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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1.0    ^1^  U£ 

|£0    12.0 


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Ftiotograpliic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


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33  WfST  MAIN  STRUT 

WnSTIR,N.Y.  14SM 

(71«)t72-4S03 


.« 


CIHM/ICMH 


Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Hiatoricai  IMicroraproductions  /  Inttitut  Canadian  da  microraproductiona  liiatoriquaa 


\ 


\ 


Taehnical  and  Bibliographic  Notaa/Notas  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


Tba  Instituta  haa  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibiiographlcally  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantly  changa 
tha  uauai  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chaclcad  balow. 


pri   Coloured  covara/ 
biJ   Couvartura  da  coulaur 


r~1   Covara  damagad/ 


D 


Couvartura  andommagia 


Covara  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  raatauria  at/ou  palliculAa 


r~|   Covar  titia  miaaing/ 


D 


D 
D 


D 


D 


La  titra  da  couvartura  manqua 


pn   Colourad  mapa/ 


Cartaa  gAographiquaa  vn  coulaur 

Colourad  inic  (i.a.  othar  than  blua  or  blacic)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  blaua  ou  noira) 


r*n   Colourad  plataa  and/or  illuatrationa/ 


Planchaa  at/ou  illuatrationa  an  coulaur 


Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
Rali4  avac  d'autraa  documanta 


Tight  binding  may  cauaa  ahadowa  or  diatortion 
along  intartor  margin/ 

Laroiiura  sarrAa  paut  cauaar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
diatoraSon  la  long  da  la  marga  intiriaura 

Blanic  laavaa  addad  during  raatoration  may 
appaar  within  tha  taxt.  Whanavar  posaibla.  thaaa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
11  aa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagaa  blanchaa  ajoutiaa 
lora  d'una  raatauration  apparaiaaant  dana  la  taxta. 
maia.  loraqua  cala  4tait  poaaibia.  caa  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  4tA  fiimAaa. 

Additional  commanta:/ 
Commantairaa  supplAmantairaa: 


L'Inatitut  a  microfilm*  la  maillaur  axamplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  At4  poaaibia  da  aa  procurer.  Laa  detail* 
da  cat  axamplaira  qui  aont  paut-Atra  uniquaa  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographiqua.  qui  pauvant  modifier 
una  Image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dana  la  mMiode  normala  de  f iimege 
aont  indiquAa  ci-daaaoua. 


pn  Coloured  pagaa/ 


Pagaa  de  couleur 

damaged/ 
endommag^aa 

reatored  and/oi 
Pagaa  reataurAea  at/ou  pelliculAea 

Pagaa  diacolourad.  stained  or  foxei 
Pegea  dicolorAes.  tachatiea  ou  piquAas 

Pagaa  detached/ 
Pagaa  dAtachAes 

Showthroughy 
Tranaparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualiti  inigale  de  I'impression 

Includea  aupplementery  matarii 
Comprend  du  metAriei  auppMmantaira 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seuie  Mition  disponibie 


□   Pagaa  damaged/ 
Pagaa  endommai 

n~|   Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

0   Pagaa  diacolourad.  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pegea 

r~n   Pagaa  detached/ 

HShowthrough/ 
7 

r~1   Quality  of  print  variea/ 

r~n   Includea  aupplementery  material/ 

r~n   Only  edition  available/ 


tc 


T 

P 
o 

fi 


0 
b 
tl 

si 

o 

fi 

si 

Ol 


n 


Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obacured  by  errata 
slips,  tissuaa,  etc..  have  been  refilmed  to 
enaura  tha  beat  possible  image/ 
Lea  pages  totalement  ou  partiallement 
obacurciaa  par  un  feuillet  d'errata.  una  pelure. 
etc.,  ont  iti  filmies  i  nouveau  da  fapon  A 
obtanir  la  mallleure  imege  poaaibia. 


T 

si 

T 

M 

dl 
ai 
b( 
ri{ 
n 
m 


Thia  Item  ia  filmed  at  the  reduction  retio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  fiimi  su  taux  da  rMuction  indiqu*  ci-daaaoua. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

28X 

30X 

T 

12X 

16X 

20X 

a4x 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  f ilmad  h«r«  has  b—n  r«produe«d  thank* 
to  th«  ganaroaity  of: 

Stminary  of  QMbae 
Library 


L'axamplaira  film*  fut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
gin4roait4  da: 

Mmiiwht  d*  QuMmc 


Tha  imaga*  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
poaaibia  conaMaring  tha  condition  and  laglblHcy 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apaclflcationa. 


Laa  imagaa  auhrantaa  ont  4t*  raproduita*  avae  la 
plua  grand  aoln,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattatA  da  raiiamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformit*  avae  laa  condltlona  du  contrat  da 
fllmaga. 


Original  eopiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  fllmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  llluatratad  impraa- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  approprlata.  All 
othar  original  copla*  ara  fllmad  baginning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printad  or  llluatratad  impraa- 
aion,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  llluatratad  Impraaaion. 


Laa  axampla)  *«  orlglnaux  dont  la  oouvartura  an 
paplar  aat  in.f»rim4a  aont  film4a  an  eommancant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  mn  tarmlnant  aoit  par  la 
darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
dlmprataion  ou  d'illuatration.  aoit  par  la  aacond 
pkit,  aalon  la  caa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
origlnaux  aont  filmia  an  commandant  par  la 
pramiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
d'impraaalon  ou  dlliuatration  at  an  tarmlnant  par 
la  darnMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  taila 
ampralnta. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microflcha 
•hall  contain  tha  aymboi  — »■  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED").  or  tha  aymboi  V  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 


Un  daa  aymbolaa  auivanta  apparattra  aur  la 
darnlAra  imaga  da  chaqua  microflcha.  aalon  la 
caa:  la  aymbdo  — ^  aignifia  "A  SUiVRE".  la 
aymboia  ▼  aignifia  "PIN". 


Mapa,  piataa,  charta,  ate.  may  ba  fllmad  at 
diffarant  raductlon  ratloa.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  included  In  ona  axpoaura  ara  fllmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  corner,  loft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framaa  aa 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrama  illuatrata  tha 
mathod: 


Laa  cartaa.  planchaa.  tableaux,  ate.  pauvant  ttra 
flimto  A  daa  taux  da  rMuctlon  difftranu. 
Loraqua  la  document  eat  trap  grand  pour  itra 
reproduH  en  un  aeul  clich4. 11  eat  filmA  i  partir 
da  I'angia  aupAriaur  gauche,  do  gauche  i  droite. 
et  do  haut  an  baa.  an  prenant  la  nombre 
d'imagea  nteaaaaire.  Lea  diagrammea  auivanta 
iliuatrent  la  mithoda. 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

^ 


»>'    "^j 


""k^i*'  ■'*-"i;^-;^ 


Iteratibe  of  a  Capt^fritg 


AMONG 


THE  MOHAWK  INDIANS, 


A   DfeaOBIPTION  OF 


NEW  NETHERLAND  IN  1642-3, 


AND  OTHER   PAPERS. 


FATHER  ISAAC  JOGUES, 

OF  TBX  BOOIRT  <W  nBOB. 


WITH  A  MEMOR  OF  THE  AUTHOR, 


BT  JOHN  GILMABT  SHEA. 


■^••'^'^ 


NEW  YORK: 

EDWARD    DUNIGAN    &    BROTHER, 

(JAXB8  B.  KIBKBB,) 

871  BROADWAY. 
1M1. 


/  fUi 


Le  S6minoini  d»  QaUbBci 
3,  rue  de  rUniver8it6, 
Qutt)eo4,  QUE. 


X 


NARRATIVE 


(iaptiMtg  among  %  p[o|ato(t|nMmt5» 


OF  A 


AND  A 


DESCRIPTION  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND 


IN  1649-8. 


BY 

FATHER    ISAAC    JOGUES, 

or  TBI  ■OOIETT  or  JKSUS. 


WITH 

A   MEMOIR   OF  THE   HOLY   MISSIONARY, 

By  JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA, 

or    TBS     NKW    TOBK     BISTOBIOAL     aOOtlTT. 


NEW  YORK  : 
PRESS   OF   THE   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

1856. 


/ 


^ 


'b 


>• 


I 


\ 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


-*^^- 


m 


•■    The  following  papers,  written  by  the  illustrious  missionary  between 
the  years  1642  and  1646,  consist  of, 

I.  Narrative  of  his  Captivity  among  the  Mohawks,  from  a  Latin 
manuscript  preserved  at  Montreal,  and  in  Alegambe. 

II.  Account  of  his  Escape,  from  the  Relation  of  1642-8,  p.  284. 

III.  Description  of  New  Netherland,  from  his  original  manuscript. 

IV.  His  last  Letters  in  1646,  from  the  Relation  of  1646-7. 

v.  Captivity  and  Death  of  Ren6  Goupil,  from  his  original  manu- 
script. 

YI.  Letters  of  Gov.  Kieft  announcing  his  death,  from  an  attested 
copy  preserved  at  Montreal. 

The  narrative  of  his  captivity  forms  part  of  a  manuscript  volume, 
entitled  "Memoires  touchant  la  mort  et  les  vertns  des  peres  Isaac 
Jogues,  Anne  de  Noue,  Antoine  Daniel,  Jean  de  Brebeuf,  Gabriel  Lale- 
mant,  Charles  Garnier,  Noel  Chabanel  et  Ren6  Goupil,"  consisting  of 
authentic  papers  relating  to  their  life  and  death,  being  copied  from 
originals,  and  each  sworn  to  by  Fathers  Paul  Ragueneau  and  Joseph 
Foncet ;  as  to  Father  Jogues,  it  includes  Father  Butenx's  "  Narr6  de  la 
prise  du  p.  Isaac  Jogues,"  Jogues'  own  narrative,  his  account  of  tb  • 
captivity  and  death  of  Goupil,  and  letters  of  Fathers  Buteux  and 
De  Qnen  relative  to  his  death.  It  was  found,  accompanied  by  the 
Description  of  New  Netherland,  and  the  account  of  Goupil's  death,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Father  Jogues  himself,  both  in  letter  form,  with  the 
folds  and  incisions  for  sealing  in  use  at  the  time,  and  both  more  easily 
read  than  the  court-hand  of  the  volume.  They  were  found  in  the  Hos- 
pital of  the  Angusttn  nuns,  or  Hotel  Dien,  at  Quebec,  where  they  had 
been  deposited  shortly  before  1800  by  Father  Cazot,  the  last  of  the  old 
race  of  the  Jesuits  of  the  French  colony,  avIio  seeing  his  body  then 
about  to  expire  by  the  enactments  of  the  English  conquerors,  which 
prevented  their  receiving  new  members,  wished  to  save  for  Catholicity 
at  least- a  few  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  papers  in  the  archives.    The 


INT80DU0T0RY  NOM. 


'.  and  faith- 

thefr  return 

by  the  Rev. 
TMpondlng 


MEMOIR. 


*'"  Isaac  Jooveb  was  bora  at  Orleans,  in  France,  on  the  tenth  of 
January,  1607,  and  his  family  still  enjoys  the  esteem  of  his  natire 
city.  Educated  in  a  Jesuit  college  but  lately  opened  there,  his  tender 
piety,  his  wonderful  love  of  the  Gross,  or,  in  less  ascetic  language,  of 
sufferings,  and  a  desire  of  pouring  out  his  blood  in  attempting  to 
convert  the  heathen  to  the  Faith  of  Christ,  induced  him,  towards 
the  close  of  his  studies,  to  ask  to  be  enrolled  among  the  members  of 
the  celebrated  Society  which  had  directed  his  education.  Admitted 
to  the  Rouen  novitiate  in  1624,  he  was  sent,  after  the  two  years  of 
seclusion  and  prayer  which  usher  in  the  religious  life,  to  Paris  to 
continue  his  literary  studies.  In  1629,  he  began  his  career  as  a 
teacher,  and  for  four  years  attracted  universal  admiration  by  his  able 
scholarship  and  ability  in  the  direction  of  youth.  The  following  let- 
ter in  its  latinity  would  do  credit  to  a  scholar  writing  in  the  quiet 
of  his  study ;  and  other  monuments  are  extant  to  show  how  easily 
he  might  have  grasped  at  literary  fame.  He  sighed,  however,  for 
the  missions ;  and  it  was  with  joy  that  he  received  a  summons  to 
repair  to  the  Clermont  College,  at  Paris,  to  prepare,  by  the  study  of 
divinity,  for  the  order  of  priesthood,  which  would  enable  him  to  set 
out  for  that  field  which  he  had  ever  ardently  desired. 

In  1636,  after  four  years'  study,  he  was  ordained  priest,  and  or- 
dered to  prepare  for  immediate  embarkation  to  Canada,  to  which, 
when  all  chance  of  the  European  mission  was  cut  o£f,  his  longings 
had  been  turned.  After  bidding  farewell  to  his  mother  and  family, 
he  set  sail  from  Dieppe  with  Father  Gamier  and  Father  Chatelain, 
and  after  a  stormy  voyage  reached  Miscou,  a  little  island  at  the 
entrance  of  Chaleurs  Bay,  where  the  Jesuits  then  had  a  missionary 
station.  Here  he  landed ;  but  after  a  short  stay  proceeded  to  Que- 
bec, and  arrived  in  the  city  on  the  2d  of  July :  his  two  companions 


6 


MEMOIR. 


had  already  started  for  the  Huron  mission — a  long  and  painful  voy- 
age  by  the  Ottawa  river.  Ho  followed,  embarking  in  bis  frail  canoe 
at  Three  Rivers,  on  the  24tli  of  AuguHt.  "  It  would  not  be  eany," 
says  he,  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  "  to  detail  all  the  miseries  of  the 
voyage ;  but  the  love  of  God,  who  calls  us  to  those  missions,  and  our 
desire  of  contributing  something  to  the  conversion  of  these  poor 
savages,  renders  this  so  sweet,  that  wo  would  not  exchange  these 
pains  for  all  the  joys  of  earth.  Our  food  on  the  way  is  a  little  Indian 
corn,  pounded  between  two  stones,  and  boiled  in  water  without  any 
seasoning ;  our  bed  the  earth,  or  the  frightful  rocks,  lining  the  great 
river,  which  rolled  by  us  in  the  clear  moonlight,  for  we  always  slept 
in  the  open  air.  The  posture  to  be  taken  in  the  canoe  is  extremely 
inconvenient ;  you  cannot  stretch  out  your  legs,  so  little  and  cramped 
is  it :  scarcely  do  you  venture  to  move,  for  fear  of  capsizing  all  into 
the  river.  I  was  forced  to  keep  perfect  silence,  being  able  neither  to 
understand  nor  make  myself  understood  by  my  Indians.  Another 
source  of  pain  and  hardship  is,  that  in  this  voyage  we  meet  sixty  or 
eighty  cataracts,  or  waterfalls,  which  descend  so  precipitously,  and 
from  such  a  height,' that  the  canoes  are  often  ingulfed  by  approaching 
too  near  them.  We  indeed  were  not  exposed  to  this,  as  we  went 
against  the  current ;  but  we  were  not  the  less  obliged  to  land  very 
frequently,  and  make  through  the  neighboring  rocks  and  wood  a 
detour  of  a  league  or  more,  loaded  with  our  baggage,  and  with  even 
our  canoe.  As  for  me,  I  not  only  carried  my  little  bundle,  but  I  also 
helped  our  Indians  and  relieved  them  as  much  as  I  could,  till  at  last 
a  boy  some  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  belonging  to  our  party»  fell  sick  * 
then  I  was  forced  to  carr)-  hira  on  my  shoulders  in  the  marches  occa- 
sioned by  the  falls,  of  which  I  have  spoken."  This  and  the  heavy 
burdens  which  he  afterwards  had  to  carry  broke  him  down,  so  that 
soon  after  his  arrival  at  the  mission  of  St.  Joseph's,  at  Ihonatiria,  he 
was  prostrated  by  a  dangerous  malady.  Destitute  of  every  suitable 
remedy,  of  food,  and  even  of  care,  as  his  fellow-missioners,  one  by 
one,  were  prostrated  around,  he  trusted  to  Providence  alone,  and  soon 
recovered.  He  was  immediately  initiated  into  a  missionary  life  by 
Father  Brebeuf,  and  spent  the  winter  in  hurrying  from  town  to  town 
to  visit  the  victims  of  a  pestilence  then  ragins^  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Like  all  the  missionaries,  he  had  to  contest  every  inch  of  ground 
with  the  medicine  men,  who  saw  in  the  new  apostles  the  destroyers 
of  their  influence.  The  study  of  the  language  engaged  his  leisure 
hours ;  and  when  the  violence  of  the  epidemic  abated,  he  daily  visited 


IIKMOIR. 


fl  number  of  cnbinii  to  loam  the  practice,  then  returned  to  listen  to 
the  theory  of  the  Huron  language  explaine«l  by  its  first  master,  Drebeuf. 
After  passing  unscathed  through  the  terrible  persecution  and  immi* 
nent  danger  to  which  the  missionaries  were  exposed  when  tlio  plague 
broke  out  anew  a  year  later,  and  almost  depeopled  the  land,  Father 
Jogues,  with  the  rest  of  the  missionaries,  removed  to  Teananstayae, 
the  second  St.  Joseph's,  (the  first  missionary  station,  Ihonatiria,  hav- 
ing  dwindled  to  a  few  cabins.)  We  find  him  next,  with  Gamier, 
carrying  the  Cross  to  the  Petuns,  who  had  imbibed  such  prejudice 
against  them,  that  the  town  Ehwaa,  unmindful  of  Indian  hospitality, 
olosed  its  doors  against  them  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  compelled 
the  missionaries  to  depart  from  their  ungrateful  cabins.  Never  again 
had  it  a  season  of  mercy ;  the  next  year  it  was  a  heap  of  ruins,  de- 
stroyed by  famine,  pestilence,  and  war. 

On  his  return  from  this  painful  mission,  Father  Jogues  was  sta- 
tioned at  the  permanent  residence  which,  under  the  name  of  St. 
Mary's,  had  risen  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Wye.  As  in  old  con- 
vents, a  hospice  stood  hard  by,  where  the  wayfarer  might  enter  in, 
and  where  neophytes  came  from  the  most  distant  villages  to  receive, 
away  from  the  noise  of  their  towns,  full  and  particular  instruction  in 
the  truths  of  Christianity.  From  this  seminary  issued  many  of  the 
ablest  and  most  fervent  Catechists  of  the  Huron  Church.  Father 
Jogues  was  not,  however,  to  remain  here  long :  the  Jesuit,  like  the 
soldier,  is  ever  liable  to  receive  orders  for  a  distant  march.  In  the 
summer  of  1641,  the  neighboring  nations  had  gathered  in  the  Huron 
country  to  witness  the  games,  the  dances  and  the  alternately  joyful 
and  lugubrious  ceremonies  of  the  Feast  of  the  Dead.  Among  the 
rest,  came  the  Pauoitigoueieuhak,  from  the  rapid  outlet  of  Lake  Su- 
perior. Charmed  with  the  conduct  of  the  missionaries,  they  invited 
them  to  their  lodges,  and  Father  mbault  was  chosen  to  visit  them 
from  his  skill  in  Algonquin  ;  Father  Jogues  was  assigned  to  him  as  a 
companion,  and  they  launched  their  bark  in  September  on  the  Fresh- 
Water  Sea ;  and,  wandering  amid  its  maze  of  isles,  hallowed  to  the 
Indian's  mind,  in  seventeen  days  reached  the  Sault  de  Gaston,  which 
henceforth  assumes  in  the  mission  annals  the  name  we  still  give  it — 
Sault  St.  Mary's.  Here,  where  the  adventurous  Nicolet  had  pene- 
trated a  few  years  before,  Jogues  and  Raymbault  planted  the  Cross 
turned  to  the  South,  where  a  great  river  was  said  to  stretch  away  to 
ft  vast  lake,  passing  by  the  villages  of  countless  tribes.  Two  thousand 
Indians  assembled  round  the  Cross,  and  listened  with  attention  to 


8 


UBHOIB. 


the  words  of  truth ;  they  earnestly  pressed  the  missionaries  to  winter 
with  them ;  but  the  Huron  land  reclaimed  them,  and  they  returned 
to  their  labors  there. 

While  the  missionaries  were  thus  extending  their  spiritual  con- 
quests on  every  side,  they  were  personally  reduced  to  a  state  of  most 
frightful  poverty ;  their  clothes  were  in  shreds,  their  little  stock  of 
flour  for  hosts,  was  all  but  expended ;  for  wine,  they  pressed  the  wild 
grape  of  the  forest,  but  even  then  they  had  not  chalices  and  vest- 
ments enough  for  the  various  missions.  The  want  of  the  mere  com< 
forts  of  life  had  no  weight  with  them,  but  now  they  needed  what 
could  not  be  foregone ;  and  though  the  Iroquois,  who  had  for  some 
time  back  prevented  all  intercourse  with  Quebec,  still  waylaid  the 
passage,  a  Father  must  be  sent :  the  Superior  stated  to  Jogues  his 
wish  that  he  should  go;  he  had  already  asked  of  heaven  an  occasion 
of  suffering;  his  prayer  was  heard;  he  bowed  his  head  and  de- 
parted. 

The  following  letters  (i.-iv.)  will  detail  his  subsequent  history, 
and  give  us,  in  his  own  words,  the  sufferings  of  this  refined  scholar 
and  poet,  yet  no  loss  humble  and  zealous  missionary. 

The  sequel  of  his  career  after  his  captivity  can  be  shortly  told. 
He  left  New  York  in  a  small  bark  on  the  6th  of  November,  and 
after  much  hardship,  put  into  Falmouth,  in  England,  having  al- 
most fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  Parliament  cruiser.  Here  their  bark 
was  entered  by  robbers,  and  F.  Jogues  stripped  of  his  hat  and  coat. 
Having  seen  a  French  collier,  he  went  up  to  him,  and  though  at  first 
taken  for  a  beggar,  made  known  his  real  character,  and  obtained 
passage  to  the  French  coast,  which  he  reached,  between  Brest  and  St. 
Pol  de  Leon  on  Christmas  Day,  early  enough  to  satisfy  his  devotion 
by  receiving  communion,  of  which  he  bad  so  long  been  deprived. 

A  good  merchant  took  him  to  Rennes :  unknown,  he  presented 
himself  at  the  college  of  his  order  as  one  who  brought  news  from 
Canada.  The  Rector,  who  was  preparing  to  say  Mass,  hurried  to  see 
the  stranger  as  soon  as  he  heard  the  word  Canada.  Almost  his  first 
question  was  as  to  Father  Jogues.  "  Do  you  know  him?"  "J  know 
him  well,"  said  the  other.  "  We  have  heard  of  his  capture  by  the 
Iroquois,  and  his  horrible  sufferings.  What  has  become  of  him  ?  Is 
he  still  alive  ?"  "  He  is  alive,"  said  F.  Jogues ;  "he  is  free,  he  is  now 
speaking  to  you ! " — and  he  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  his  astonished 
Superior  to  ask  his  blessing. 

Once  known,  honors  met  him  on  every  side ;  objects  belonging 


MEMOIR.  9 

to  him  were  eagerly  sought  as  relics ;  the  Queen  Regent  even  re- 
quested that  he  should  come  to  Paris,  that  she  might  see  so  illus- 
trious a  sufiferer.  All  this  was  painful  to  him,  and  it  was  not  till 
three  times  summoned  that  he  pi-oceeded  to  the  capital.  He  longed 
to  return  to  Canada;  but  one  thing  prevented  his  departure.  The 
mangled  hands  which  had  been  reverently  kissed  by  the  Queen  and 
Court  of  France,  were  an  obstacle  to  his  celebrating  the  Holy  Sacri- 
fice of  the  Altar.  A  dispensation  was  needed.  Urban  VHI.  then 
sat  in  the  See  of  Peter~a  Pope  noted  especially  for  the  stringent 
rules  which  he  introduced  against  any  symptom  of  public  veneration 
to  the  departed  servants  of  God  until  their  lite  and  virtues  had  been 
sifted  and  examined  in  the  long  and  minute  legal  proceedings  for 
canonization.  Yet  when  the  application  of  Father  Jogues  was  pre- 
sented, and  he  had  learned  the  story  of  his  sufferings,  he  forgot  his 
own  laws,  and  exclaimed,  as  he  granted  it,  "  Indignum  esse  Christi 
martyrem  Christi  non  bibere  sanguinem." 

Nothing  now  detained  the  missionary  in  Franco ;  and  early  in  the 
spring  of  1644  he  was  again  in  Canada.  The  colony  was  on  the 
brink  of  ruin ;  but  the  Governor  fortunately  brought  the  Mohawks 
to  offer  peace.  It  was  concluded  at  Three  Rivers  on  the  12th  of 
July,  1645.  Father  Jogues,  though  stationed  at  Montreal,  was  pres- 
ent, and  an  anxious  observer  of  the  state  of  feeling.  The  treaty  was 
at  last  confirmed  on  the  Mohawk,  and  again  renewed  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence, with  a  request  for  a  missionary. 

Conscious  that  he  would  be  selected.  Father  Jdgites  announced 
to  his  friends  his  perilous  mission,  (v.;)  and  in  April,  1646,  readily 
accepted  it  when  offered  by  his  Superior,  (vi.) 

Though  a  mission  was  resolved  upon,  it  was  thought  better  that 
he  should  go  first  as  ambassador,  and  was  accordingly  sent  with  Mr. 
Bourdon,  an  oflScer  in  the  employ  of  the  colony.*  Of  his  embassy, 
the  missionary  drew  up  a  full  account,  which  was  in  existence  till 
1800,  when  it  was,  with  other  papers  belonging  to  the  Canada 
Jesuits,  seized  by  the  British  Government.  It  has  now  disappeared. 
The  "  Relation,"  which  doubtless  followed  it,  says  that  they  left  Three 


*  As  the  misssionaiy  was  about  to  set  out,  an  Algonquin  chief  advised  him 
to  lay  aside  his  religions  habit  His  reason  was  striking :  it  exemplifies  per- 
fectly what  has  been  called  "  the  hideous  face  of  Christianity.''  "  There  is 
nothing,"  said  the  Algonquin  chiefs,  "  nothing  more  repulsive  at  first  than  this 
doctrinn,  that  seems  to  exterminate  all  that  men  hold  dearest.  Your  long  gown 
preaches  it  as  strongly  as  your  lips :  leave  it,  and  go  in  a  short  coat" 


M 


f 


10 


MEMOIR. 


Rivers  on  the  16th  of  May,  1646,  with  four  Mohawks  and  two  Algon- 
quins.  Ascending  the  Sorel,  they  traversed  Lake  Champlain,  and  on 
the  29th  of  May  reached  the  beautiful  lake  below  it.  Its  Iroquois 
name  was  Andiataroct« :  for  Europeans  it  was  without  a  name,  but 
as  it  was  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi,  the  festival  instituted  by  the 
Church  to  honor  Christ's  presence  in  the  Holy  Sacrament,  the  mis- 
sionary gave  it  the  name,  which  it  bore  for  more  than  a  century — 
Lake  Saint  Sacrament.* 

Continuing  their  march,  they  came  to  Ossaragu^,  a  fishing  sta- 
tion on  the  Maurice,  or  Upper  Hudson,  which  they  descended  to  Fort 
Orange.  When  the  missionary  had  here  repaid  his  debt  of  gratitude 
to  his  generous  benefactors,  the  embassy  proceeded  to  the  Mohawk. 
The  first  castle  was  reached  on  the  7th  of  June,  its  name  had  been 
changed  from  Ossernenon  to  Oneougoure.  Here  Jogues  was  wel- 
comed as  a  friend :  a  council  of  Sachems  was  soon  convened,  and  he 
delivered  the  presents  of  the  Governor,  and  in  a  discourse,  still  pre- 
served, urged  them  to  thoughts  of  peace.  He  was  heard  with  atten- 
tion, and  responded  to  in  a  similar  strain.  According  to  Indian  cus- 
tom, he  presentedi  a  belt  of  wampum  to  the  tribe  into  which  he  had 
been  incorporated.  The  Wolf  replied  that  Ondessont  should  ever 
find  among  them  his  mat  to  rest  upon,  and  a  fire  to  warm  him. 

Another  present  was  yet  to  be  made.  Jogues  had  remarked 
among  the  spectators  some  Onondaga  braves,  and  to  these  also  he 
made  a  present,  to  smooth  the  way  for  the  French  to  their  land  of 
lakes.  This  was  cheerfully  accepted ;  and  Jogues,  no  longer  a  tem- 
poral envoy,  turned  to  his  spiritual  avocations.  The  captive  Chris- 
tians were  soon  visited  and  consoled,  the  sacraments  of  baptism  or 
penance  conferred  on  many ;  but  he  could  not  delay  as  long  as  his 
zeal  desired.  The  Iroquois  pressed  his  departure,  and  on  the  16th 
he  left  their  castles  for  the  St.  Lawrence.  As  he  expected  to  return 
speedily,  he  left  a  box  containing  his  little  missionary  furniture :  they 
showed  a  disinclination  to  keep  it,  but  as  he  opened  it  in  their- 
presence  he  thought  their  suspicions  dispelled,  and  went  his  way. 

On  his  arrival  in  Canada,  joy,  such  as  had  not  been  known  for 
years,  quickened  every  heart,  for  all  had  been  so  suspicious  of  the 
Mohawks,  that  public  prayers  had  been  constantly  offered  for  the 
missionary  and  his  companion. 

His  immediate  return  to  the  Mohawk  was  now  expected ;  but 

*  It  would  need  but  a  sliglit  change  to  make  Lake  George,  Lake  Jogues,  and 
snrely  its  great  discoverer  deserves  it  better  than  a  Hanoverian  king. 


MEMOIR. 


11 


and  on 


suddenly  there  came  mysterious  rumors,  and  the  Superiors  paused. 
Jogues  must  not  go.  *  But  as  the  summer  wore  on  all  became  quiet, 
and,  yielding  to  his  entreaty,  the  Superior  permitted  him  to  depart  ^ 
In  September,  1646,  he  left  Three  Rivers  for  the  last  time  with 
Lalande,  a  worthy  successor  of  Goupil,  and  some  Hurons.  As  they 
advanced,  they  heard  tidings  wliich  seemed  positive  as  to  the  end  of 
the  peace:  some  Hurons  left  them,  but  Jogues  went  fearlessly  on. 
After  the  return  of  these,  the  French  were  left  in  the  greatest  anxiety 
and  uncertainty  as  to  his  fate.  Months  rolled  by,  and  no  tidings 
reached  them :  at  last,  almost  at  the  same  time,  they  heard  from 
some  Hurons,  who  had  escaped  from  the  Mohawk,  an  account  of  his 
death,  and  received  letters  from  (xovernor  Kieft  which  confirmed  it. 

The  Indian  account,  as  preserved  in  the  manuscript  of  Father 
Buteux  and  Father  De  Quen,  is,  that  when  the  missionary  was  within 
two  days'  march  of  the  castles,  that  is,  half  way  between  Lake  George 
and  the  Mohawk,  he  was  met  by  a  war  party  out  against  the  French. 
The  missionary  and  his  companion  were  immediately  seized,  and  in 
spite  of  his  remonstrances  stripped  and  beaten :  they  then  turned 
homeward,  and  Father  Jogues  was  again  led  naked  into  Gandawagufi,  f 
the  place  of  his  former  captivity.  Blows  were  mingled  with  threats 
of  death  on  the  morrow.  "  You  shall  not  be  burned,"  they  cried ; 
"  you  shall  die  beneath  our  hatchets,  and  your  heads  shall  be  fixed 
on  our  palisades,  to  show  your  brethren  whom  we  take."  In  vain 
did  he  endeavor  to  show  them  the  injustice  of  treating  him  as  an 
enemy,  when  he  came  the  messenger  of  peace :  deaf  to  the  voice  of  rea- 
son, and  blinded  by  superstition,  they  began  their  butchery.  Slicing 
oflF  the  flesh  from  his  arms  and  back,  they  cried,  "  Lot  us  see  whether 
this  white  flesh  is  the  flesh  of  an  Otkon."  "  I  am  but  a  man  like 
yourselves,"  replied  the  dauntless  missionary,  "though  I  fear  not 


*  Decision  in  the  Superior's  jonmaL 

f  Thus  do  all  the  French  Relations  from  this  time  name  the  place  of  his 
death :  it  is  the  same  as  Caughawaga,  and  means  "  at  the  rapids."  Father 
Foncet,  in  the  narrative  of  hia  captivity  on  the  Mohawk,  makes  the  place  of  6on- 
pil's  death  that  of  Jogues'  also,  to  be  the  second  village,  the  Andagoron,  or  Gan- 
dagoron,  of  Father  Jogues.  The  present  Gaughnawaga  may  therefore  be  con- 
sidered the  place  of  the  missionaiy's  death,  as  we  have  nothing  to  show  that  the 
village  in  question  lay  south  of  the  Mohawk,  although  the  first  village  did. 
Gaughnawaga  became,  too,  in  the  sequel,  the  centre  of  the  most  successful 
Gatholio  mission  among  the  Iroquois,  and  is  hallowed,  not  only  by  the 
of  Jogues  and  Goupil,  but  by  the  birth  of  the  sainted  Catharine  Tehgi 
is  our  holy  ground.         . 


12 


MBMOIB/ 


death,  nor  your  tortures.    Ym,  ^« 
t«  your  «,unt.7  to  ZJZl  r^*^  '"!  ^^    ^  »»-«  co.e 
•bow  you  the  way  to^eaven,^„T;ou't:^::^^\ *^«  '""'^'  ^^  *« 
the  chast,sementof  Him  who  rulea  both  t^!     7  '*'  '^  ^°^^    ^««' 
In  spite  of  their  threats  his  fat!  /"""  ""'^  *^«  French!" 

great  families  in  each  trib^  tht V  '  '"^  "°^^'^«<J-  Of  the  three 
^e  Tortoise  and  his  own  ;  e^wlf  T/Tr  ^^  ^'-^.  wl^" 
A  council  was  called  in  the  iLit  to!  f^  *"*  ^^  ^'•^"'d  «ve. 
io  should  be  spared;  butitJ^Mte       "-«  there  decided  that 

Bear  Z^  ir  r  ,^  1 1 1  ^^^  ^'^^^  -«  ^^^''^  of  the 
-J.e  had  he  stooped  toZi^VilT'^  '^  ""  *°  ^°"-'  ^" 
within,  sprang  forward,  and  dealt  Ifm  ^  -m  ^"*^'''°'  ^°''^««'«<l 
hatchet  Kiotsaeton,  tie  deput^  who  hL  "''?  '^'^'^  ^'^  ^is 
tb^wuphisanntoavertthebow  but\  1  T'^"^'**  *^«  ?««««. 
Bank  deep  in  the  head  of  the  mibia"  ^  ^°"^^  ^^  «™rand 
and  set  on  the  palisade.    His^Z?  ^'    ?'  ^'"^  ^««  tben  cut  off 

On  the  5th  of  Ju  J  164I  rr'°°  '^"^^^  ^«  ^«te. 
te«  from  the  Dutch  auIhoSL^^^^^^^^^^  of  the  let- 

was  offered  up  at  Quebec;  but  "  wei„,r  "^S  ^"^  '^''''  ^^^ 
"bnng  ourselves  to  offer  for  him  !t.  '*  no^'says  Ragueneau 

the  adorable  sacrifice, "uTinlt ^^^^^^  wfoffered 

bad  received  from  God  lltf  T"^  '''  *^«  ^-o«  which  he 
f  bappy  death,  and  morf^^'  '^^^  f -  our  sentiments  on 
than  to  pray  for  his  repose."  °^  ''''^''''^  ^  '"'^voke  his  aid 

The  Catholic  clergy  of  our  <?fof 
tnous  a  founder,  for  hYwL  the  fi  ^  ""'^  ^'"  ''^  P'*^"^  of  so  illus- 
tbe  city  and  State  of  nZy^X        '""*  "'^  '""''^^  <>'  labored  in 

-;;t~rciL-^^^^^ 

wilderness,      rne  up  perhaps  bvL        ''  ^  "^''^  ^^P^orer  of  the 
-anofdeepandtende%Z&7^°*^-^^^^    ^«  --  a 
of  soul,  timid  by  nature,  yet  o^' Wed  l''^  '^°^^'  *°^  «P««ness 
n^an  who  saw  all  in  God  and  in    fi     ^^'  '°^  ^^'"^'o  ^^ness  -a 
band  of  Providence.    T^Z^: ^7"""' ''''''''''' '"^^  ^^^^^^ 
Bona  suffering  was  his  only  thtgt  ST  1  ^  ^^^^'^^  °^  P- 
•upenor  men  who  rise  from  time  t  tt   ''°''':  ^'  ^^  ^'^^  ^^  ^bose 
8;"'shed  from  all  around  by  anll^eJ"";  '°  *^«  ^^"'^^b.  so  distin 
all  Christian  virtue,  as  to  make  m    -i  ''°'*'*^'  ^^  *  P^-^^^e  of 
-i-culous  powe«  in  tTeirhtdT      '  ^^"^^^^  ^^^^^^--^  onten 


NARRATIVE 

OF  THE  CAPTIVITY  OF  FATHER  ISAAC  JOGUES,  OF  THE 
SOCIETY  OF  JESUS,  AMONG  THE  MOHAWKS,  IN  1648 
AND  1648. 


^♦»- 


Rbvbrend  Father  in  Christ, 

The  Feaob  of  Christ  : 

WiSHixa  to  write  to  your  Reverence,  I  at  first  hesitated 
in  what  language  to  do  so,  for  after  so  long  a  disuse,  almost 
equally  forgetful  of  both,  I  found  equal  difficulty  in  either. 
Two  reasons,  however,  induced  me  to  write  in  the  less  com- 
mon idiom.  I  shall  be  better  enabled  to  employ  the  words 
of  Holy  Scripture  which  have  at  all  times  been  my  greatest 
consolation,  "amid  the  tribulations  which  have  found  us 
exceedingly,"  (Ps.  xlv.  2 ;)  I  also  wished  this  letter  less 
easily  understood. 

The  exceeding  charity  of  your  Reverence,  which  in  other 
days  overlooked  my  manifold  trangressions,  will  excuse  me 
if,  after  eight  years'  intercourse  and  residence  with  savages, 
nay,  a  savage  now  in  form  and  dress  myself,  aught  be  here 
wanting  in  correctness  or  decorum.  I  fear  still  more,  that, 
rude  in  language,  I  may  be  more  so  in  knowledge,  "nor 
know  the  time  of  my  visitation,"  (Luke  xix.  44,)  nor  re- 
member the  character  imposed  on  me  by  God,  of  preacher 
of  his  Gospel,  Jesuit  and  Priest.  This  induced  me  to  write 
to  you,  that  if  this  letter  should  ever  reach  your  hands,  I 
may,  though  living  here  in  this  hard  land  amid  Iroquois  and 
Maaquas,  be  helped  by  your  masses  and  the  prayers  of  your 
whole  province.  This  aid,  I  trust,  will  be  more  earnestly 
given,  when  from  a  perusal  of  this  letter  ^  you  shall  have 

*  This  letter  is  adddrassed  to  the  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits  at  Paris.  The 
original  in  its  classic  Latin  has  been  printed  bj  Alegambe,  in  his  "  Mortes  fllns- 
tres,"  Rome,  1657 ;  and  by  Tanner  in  his  ''  Societas  militans,"  Prague,  1675. 


14 


THE  JOGUKS  PAPERS. 


seen  both  how  much  I  am  indebted  to  the  Almighty,  and  in 
what  need  I  am  of  the  prayers  of  the  pious,  in  which,  I  am 
aware,  I  have  a  powerful  shield. 

We  sailed  from  the  Hurons  on  the  13th  of  June,  1642, 
in  four  small  boats,  here  called  canoes ;  we  were  twenty- 
three  in  all,  five  of  us  being  French.*  The  line  of  travel 
is  in  itself  most  difficult  for  many  reasons,  and  especially 
because  in  no  less  than  forty  places  both  canoes  and  bag- 
gage must  1  carried  by  land  on  the  shoulders.  It  was, 
moreover,  now  full  of  dangers,  from  fear  of  the  enemy,  who 
every  year,  by  lying  in  wait  on  the  roads  to  the  French 
settlements,  carry  oft'  many  as  prisoners ;  in  fact.  Father 
John  de  Brebeuf  had  been  all  but  taken  the  year  before.  Be- 
sides this,  they  not  long  previous  had  carried  off  two  French- 
men, but  afterwards  brought  them  back  to  their  countrymen 
unharmed,  demanding  peace  on  most  unjust  terms,  and 
then  conducted  themselves  in  a  very  hostile  manner,  so  that 
they  were  driven  off  by  our  cannons.  On  this  they  declared, 
that  if  they  took  another  Frenchman  prisoner,  they  would 
torture  him  cruelly,  like  their  other  captives,  and  then  bum 
him  alive  at  the  stake. 

The  Superior,  conscious  of  the  dangers  to  which  I  was 
exposed  on  this  journey  (one,  however,  absolutely  necessary 
for  God's  glory,)  assigned  the  task  to  me  in  such  a  way  as 
to  leave  me  at  liberty  to  decline  it  if  I  chose.  "I  did 
not,"  however,  "  resist,  I  did  not  go  back,"  (Isaias  1.,)  but 
willingly  and  cheerfully  accepted  this  mission  imposed  upon 
me  by  obedience  and  charity.  Had  I  declined  it,  it  would 
have  fallen  to  another,  far  more  worthy  than  myself. 

Having  therefore  loosed  from  St.  Mary's  of  the  Hurons, 
amid  ever-varying  fears  of  the  enemy,  dangers  of  every  kind, 
losses  by  land  and  water,  we  at  last,  on  the  thirtieth  day 

A  sworn  copy  of  the  autograph  letter  is  preserved  at  Montreal,  examined  and 
attested  in  1652  by  Father  Poncet,  whose  sufferings  and  captivity  the  next  year 
were  but  a  copy  of  those  of  Jogues  and  Bressani,  who  had  preceded  liim  to  the 
Mohawk.  There  is  also  ano&er  narrative  of  F.  Jogues'  captivity,  extorted 
from  him  by  Father  Buteux,  when  his  superior,  which  is  more  full  in  some 
respects.  This  narrative  was  translated  into  Italian  by  Bressani  in  his  work 
«  Breve  Relatione,"  into  German  in  the  edition  of  Tanner  in  that  language,  and 
part  of  it  into  French  in  the  "Relation"  of  1647;  but,  though  written  at  the 
capital  of  the  State  of  New  York,  has  never  till  now  appeared  in  English. 

*  The  place  from  which  they  departed  was  the  Mission-house  of  St.  Mary's, 
on  a  little  river  now  called  the  Wye.  Traces  still  exist  to  mark  the  site  of  this 
cradle  of  European  colonization  in  Upper  Canada.  It  was  at  first  at  some  dis- 
tance from  any  Huron  town,  but  some  years  after  this  date,  on  the  ruin  of 
the  frontier  towns,  a  village  was  grouped  around  it 


THE  JOQUES   PAPERS. 


15 


after  our  departure,  reached  in  safety  the  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  This  is  a  French  settlement  or  colony, 
called  Three  Rivers,  from  a  most  charming  stream  which 
just  there  empties  by  three  mouths  into  the  great  River  St. 
Lawrence.*  We  returned  hearty  thanks  to  God,  and  re- 
mained here  and  at  Quebec  about  two  weeks. 

Having  transacted  the  business  which  had  brought  us 
down,  we  celebrated  the  feast  of  our  holy  father,  Ignatius  ; 
and  on  the  second  of  August  were  once  more  on.  our  way 
for  Huronia.  The  second  day  after  our  departure  had  just 
dawned  when,  by  the  early  light,  some  of  our  party  discov- 
ered fresh  foot-prints  on  the  shore.  While  some  were  main- 
taining that  they  were  the  trail  of  a  hostile,  others  that  of 
a  friendly  party,  Eustace  Ahatsistari,  to  whom  for  hif?  gal- 
lant feats  of  arms  all  yielded  the  first  rank,  exclaimed, 
"  Brothers  1  be  they  the  bravest  of  the  foe,  for  such  I  judge 
them  by  their  trail,  they  are  not  more  than  three  canoes, 
and  we  number  enough  not  to  dread  such  a  handful  of  the 
enemy"  We  were,  in  fact,  forty,  for  some  others  had 
joined  us. 

We  consequently  urged  on  our  way,  but  had  scarcely 
advanced  a  mile  when  we  fell  into  an  ambush  of  the  enemy, 
who  lay  in  two  divisions  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river, 
to  the  number  of  seventy  in  twelve  canoes.  As  soon  as  we 
reached  the  spot  where  they  lay  in  ambush,  lurking  in  the 
reeds  and  tall  grass,  they  poured  in  a  volley  of  musketry, 
for  they  were  well  supplied  with  arms,  riddling  our  canoes, 
but  killing  none :  one  Huron  only  was  shot  through  the 
hand.f  At  the  first  report  of  the  fire-arms,  the  Hurons, 
almost  to  a  man,  abandoned  the  canoes,  which,  to  avoid  the 
more  rapid  current  of  the  centre  of  the  river,  were  advanc- 
ing close  by  the  bank,  and,  in  headlong  flight,  plunged  into 
the  .thickest  of  the  woods.  We,  the  four  Frenchmen,  thus 
left  with  a  few  either  already  Christians,  or  at  least  Cate- 
chumens, offering  up  a  prayer  to  Christ,  faced  the  enemy 


*  The  Algonquin  name  was  Metaberontse.  It  had  been,  prior  to  their  ex- 
pulBion  from  Canada,  the  site  of  an  Iroquois  town.     Kel.  1634 ;  Perrot  MS. 

f  Father  Jogues  omits  a  fact  worth  mentioning.  Tlie  pilot  of  his  canoe  was 
unbaptized,  though  instructed.  Regardless  of  the  balls  whizzing  around,  he 
bade  him  kneel,  and,  bending  down,  took  up  a  handful  of  water  and  baptized 
him.  This  Indian,  Bernard  Atieronhonk,  afterwards  escaped,  and  was  cease- 
lees  in  his  praise  of  the  Missionary.  "  Ondesonk,"  he  would  exclaim,  "  forgot 
self  at  the  sight  of  danger ;  he  thought  only  of  me  and  my  salvation ;  he  feared 
not  to  lose  his  own  life,  but  feared  lest  I  should  be  lost  forever." 


16 


THB  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


■M 


;    i 


We  were,  however,  outnumbered,  being  scarcely  twelve  or 
fourteen  aGiainst  thirty ;  yet  we  fought  on  till  our  comrades, 
seeing  fresh  canoes  shoot  out  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  lost  heart  and  fled.  Then  a  Frenchman  named  Rene 
Goupil,  who  was  fighting  with  the  bravest,  was  taken,  to- 
gether with  some  of  the  Hurons.  When  I  saw  this,  I  neither 
could  nor  cared  to  fly.  Whither,  indeed,  could  I  escape, 
barefooted  as  I  was  ?  **  Conceal  myself  amid  the  reeds  and 
tall  grass  I  could  indeed,  and  thus,  perhaps,  escape ;  but 
could  I  leave  a  countryman  and  the  unchristened  Hurons, 
already  taken,  or  soon  to  be  ?  As  the  enemy,  in  hot  pur- 
suit of  the  fugitives,  had  passed  on,  leaving  me  standing  on 
the  battle-field,  I  called  out  to  one  of  those  who  had  re- 
mained to  guard  the  prisoners,  and  bade  him  place  me 
beside  his  French  captive,  that  as  I  had  been  his  companion 
on  the  way,  so  would  I  be  in  his  dangers  and  death.  Scarce 
crediting  what  he  heard,  and  fearful  for  himself,  he  ad- 
vanced and  led  me  to  the  other  prisoners. 

"  Dearest  brother,"  I  then  exclaimed,  "wonderfully  hath 
God  dealt  with  us ;  '  but  he  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what 
is  good  in  his  eight,'  (1  Kings,  iii.  18  ;)  as  it  hath  pleased 
him,  so  hath  it  come  to  pass,  blessed  be  his  name."  Then, 
healing  his  confession,  I  gave  him  absohition.  I  now  turn- 
ed to  the  Huron  prisoners,  and  instructing  them  one  by  one, 
baptized  them.  As  new  prisoners  were  constantly  taken  in 
their  flight,  my  labor  was  constantly  renewed.  At  length, 
Eustace  Ahasistari,  that  famous  Christian  chief,  was  brought 
in  :  when  he  saw  me,  he  exclaimed,  "  Solemnly,  indeed,  did 
I  swear,  brother,  that  I  would  live  or  die  by  thee."  What 
answer  I  made  I  know  not,  so  much  had  grief  overcome 
me.  Last  of  all,  William  Couture  was  dragged  in  :  he,  too, 
had  set  out  from  Huronia  with  me.  When  he  saw  all 
routed,  he  had,  with  the.  rest,  taken  to  the  woods, .  and 
being  a  young  man,  as  gifted  in  body  as  in  mind,  had  by 
his  agility  left  the  enemy  far  behind  ;  but  when  he  looked 
around  and  could  see  nothing  of  me, — "  Shall  I,"  said  he 
to  himself,  "abandon  my  dear  Father  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  savages,  and  fly  without  him  ? — ^not  I." 
Then,  returning  by  the  path  which  he  had  taken  in  flight, 
he  gave  himself  up  to  the  enemy.    Would  that  he  had  fled, 

*  To  keep  their  canoes  free  from  sand  and  gravel,  the  Indians  reqiuied  all 
*to  enter  them  barefoot.    Few  even  of  th»  missionaries  were  exempted  from  this 

rule. 


THE  JOGUEB  PAPERS. 


w 


nor  swelled  our  mournful  band  1 — for,  in  such  a  case,  it  is 
no  comfort  to  have  companions,  especially  those  whom  you 
love  as  yourself.  Yet  such  are  the  souls  who,  though  but 
laymen,  serve  God  and  the  society  among  the  Hurons,  with 
no  views  of  earthly  reward.**  It  is  painful  to  think  even 
of  all  his  terrible  sufferings.  Their  hate  was  enkindled 
against  all  the  French,  but  especially  against  him,  as  they 
knew  that  one  of  their  bravest  had  fallen  by  his  hand  in  the 
fight.  He  was  accordingly  first  stripped  naked,  all  his  nails 
torn  out,  his  very  fingers  gnawed,  and  a  broad  sword  driven 
through  his  right  hand.  Mindful  of  the  wounds  o^  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  this  pain,  though  most  acute,  he  borCj  as  he 
afterwards  told  me,  with  great  joy. 

When  I  beheld  him  thus  bound  and  naked,  I  could  not 
contain  myself,  but,  leaving  my  keepers,  rushed  through  the 
midst  of  the  savages  who  had  brought  him,  embraced  him 
most  tenderly ;  exhorted  him  to  offer  all  this  to  God  for 
himself,  and  those  at  whose  hands  he  suffered.  They  at 
first  looked  on,  in  wonder,  at  my  proceeding ;  then,  as  if 
recollecting  themselves,  and  gathering  all  their  rage,  they 
fell  upon  me,  and  with  their  fists,  thongs  and  clubs  beat  me 
till  I  fell  senseless.  Two  of  them  then  dragged  me  back 
to  where  I  had  been  before ;  and  scarcely  had  I  begun  to 
breathe,  when  some  others,  attacking  me,  tore  out,  by  biting, 
almost  all  my  nails,  and  crunched  my  two  fore-fiugers  with 
their  teeth,  giving  me  intense  pain.  The  same  was  done  to 
Rene  Goupil,  the  Huron  captives  being  left  untouched. 

When  all  had  come  in  from  the  pursuit,  in  which  two 
Hurons  were  killed,  they  carried  us  across  the  river,  and 
there  shared  the  plunder  of  the  twelve  canoes  (for  eight  had 
joined  us).  This  was  very  great ;  for,  independent  of  what 
each  Frenchman  had  with  him,  we  had  twenty  packages,  con- 
taining Church  plate  and  vestments,  books  and  other  arti- 
cles of  the  kind — a  rich  cargo,  indeed,  considering  the 
poverty  of  our  Huron  mission.  While  they  were  dividing 
the  plunder,  I  completed  the  instruction  of  such  as  were 
unchristened  and  baptized  them.     Among  the  rest,  was  one 


P  *  Gonpil  and  Contare  were  \vbat  are  called  in  the  old  French  wiitera, 
Donnii,  that  is,  men  given :  they  wefe  not  religiooa  of  the  order  to  which  they 
attached  themselves,  but  laymen,  who,  from  motives  of  zeal,  gave  themselves  to 
the  missionaries,  to  be  employed  as  they  saw  fit.  There  probably  never  was  a 
set  of  more  humble  and  heroic  men  than  the  Donn4B  of  the  early  Catholic 
missions. 


BEOOND  SERIES. — ^YOL.  III. 


12 


18 


THE  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


sere  octogenarian  warrior,  who,  when  ordered  to  enter  the 
canoe  to  be  borne  off  with  the  rest,  exclaimed,  "  What  I 
shall  I,  a  hoary  old  man,  go  to  a  strange  and  foreign  land  ? 
Never  !  here  will  I  die,"  and  there  he  died,  for  absolutely 
refusing  to  go,  they  slew  him  on  the  very  spot,  where  he  had 
just  been  baptized. 

Raising  then  a  joyful  shout,  which  made  the  forest  ring, 
''as  conquerors  who  rejoice  after  taking  a  prey,"  [Isaiah 
ix.  3,]  they  bore  us  off,  as  captives  towards  their  own  land. 
We  were  twenty-two,  three  had  been  killed.  By  the  favor 
of  God  our  sufferings  on  that  march,  which  lasted  thirteen 
days,*^  were  indeed  great ;  hunger  and  heat  and  menaces,  the 
savage  fury  of  the  Indians,  the  intense  pain  of  our  untended 
and  now  putrifying  wounds,  which  actually  swarmed  with 
worms.  No  trial,  however,  came  harder  upon  me  than  to 
see  them  five  or  six  days  after  approach  us  jaded  with 
the  march,  and,  in  cold  blood,  with  minds  in  nowise  excited 
by  passion,  pluck  out  our  hair  and  beard  and  drive  their 
nails,  which  are  always  very  sharp,  deep  into  parts  most 
tender  and  sensitive  to  the  slightest  impression.  But  this 
was  outward  ; '  my  internal  sufferings  affected  me  still  more, 
when  I  beheld  that  funereal  procession  of  doomed  Christians 
pass  before  my  eyes,  among  them  five  old  converts,  the  main 
pillars  of  the  infant  Huron  Churcb.f  Indeed  I  ingenuously 
admit  that  I  was  again  and  again  unable  to  withhold  my 
tears,  mourning  over  their  lot  and  that  of  my  other  com- 
panions, and  full  of  anxious  solicitude  for  the  future.  For 
I  beheld  the  way  to  the  Christian  faith  closed  by  these 
Iroquois  on  the  Hurons  and  countless  other  nations,  unless 
they  were  checked  by  some  seasonable  dispensation  of  Divine 
Providence. 

On  the  eighth  day  we  fell  in  with  a  troop  of  200J  Indians 

*  Every  copy  of  this  letter  printed  in  Latin  or  other  languages,  till  the  dia- 
covery  of  the  manuscript  at  Montreal,  has  here  88  days,  although  the  context 
■hows  the  error.  Taken  the  2d,  they  reached  the  Castles  on  the  15th,  leaving 
just  13  days  as  the  manuscript  actually  has.  The  Relation  of  1647,  Bressani,  in 
nis  worlc  in  1658,  as  well  as  Alegambe  and  Tanner,  have  the  erroneous  number. 

f  The  progress  of  the  missionaries  among  the  Hurons  was  at  first  extremely 
slow ;  three  years  elapsed  after  their  return  before  a  single  adult  was  baptized, 
and  indeed  the  conversion  of  Ahasistari,  just  before  the  date  of  this  narrative,  was 
the  first  impulse  given.  On  his  example  and  influence  the  missionaries  had 
built  many  fond  hopes,  and  Jogues  might  well  grieve  to  see  them  blasted.  The 
conversions  of  the  Huron  in  any  considerable  number  took  place  only  when  the 
nation  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin.    See  Bressani,  Breve  ReL 

t  Charlevoix,  probably  by  a  misprint,  says  700.  The  ^ace  waa  an  island 
ia  Lake  Champlaio.    See  account  of  Ren6  GonpU. 


THB  JOOUEB  PAPERS. 


19 


going  out  to  fight ;  and  as  it  is  the  custom  for  savages  when 
out  on  war  parties  to  initiate  themselves,  'as  it  were,  by 
cruelty,  under  the  belief  that  their  success  will  be  greater  as 
they  shall  have  been  more  cruel,  they  thus  received  us. 
First  rendering  thanks  to  the  Sun,  which  they  imagine  pre- 
sides over  war,  they  congratulated  their  countrymen  by  a 
joyful  volley  of  musketry.  Each  then  cut  some  stout  clubs 
in  the  neighboring  wood  in  order  to  receive  us.  After  we 
bad  landed  from  the  canoes  they  fell  upou  us'  from  both 
sides  with  their  clubs  in  such  fury,  that  I,  who  was  the  last 
and  therefore  most  exposed  to  their  blows,  sank  overcome 
by  their  number  and  severity,  before  I  had  accomplished  half 
the  rocky  way  that  led  to  the  hill  on  which  a  stage  had  been 
erected  for  us.  I  thought  I  should  soon  die  there  ;  and  so, 
partly  because  I  could  not,  partly  because  I  cared  not,  I  did 
not  arise.  How  long  they  spent  their  fury  on  me  He 
knows,  for  whose  love  and  sake  it  is  delightful  and  glorious 
thus  to  suffer.  Moved  at  length  by  a  cruel  mercy,  and 
wishing  to  carry  me  to  their  country  alive,  they  ceased  to 
strike.  And  thus  half  dead  and  drenched  in  blood,  they 
bore  me  to  the  scaffold.  Here  I  had  scarce  begun  to  breathe 
when  they  ordered  me  to  come  down  to  load  me  with  scoffs 
and  insults,  and  countless  blows  on  my  head  and  shoulders, 
and  indeed  on  my  whole  body.  I  should  be  tedious  were  I 
to  attempt  to  tell  all  that  the  French  prisoners  suffered. 
They  burnt  one  of  my  fingers,  and  crunched  another  with 
their  teeth  ;  others  already  thus  mangled  they  so  wrenched 
by  the  tattered  nerves,  that  even  now,  though  healed,  they 
are  frightfully  deformed.  Nor  indeed  was  the  lot  of  my 
fellow- sufferers  much  better. 

But  one  thing  showed  that  Go*d  watched  over  us,  and 
was  rather  trying  than  cutting  us  off.  One  of  these  savages, 
breathing  naught  but  blood  and  cruelty,  came  up  to  me, 
scarce  able  to  stand  on  my  feet,  and,  seizing  my  nose  with 
one  hand,  prepared  to  cut  it  off  with  a  large  knife  which  he 
held  in  the  other.  What  could  I  do  ?  Believing  that  I 
was  soon  to  be  burnt  at  the  stake,  unmoved,  I  awaited  the 
stroke,  groaning  to  my  Godwin  heart,  when,  as  if  stayed  by 
a  supernatural  power,  he  drew  back  his  hand  in  the  very  act 
of  cutting.  About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  he  returned, 
and,  as  it  were,  condemning  his  cowardice  and  faintheart^ 
ness,  again  prepared  to  do  it ;  when  again  held  back  by 
similar  unseen  hand  he  departed.    Had  he  carried 


vli 

1' 


I    '  I 


: 


'i 


90 


THE  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


design  my  fate  was  sealed,  for  it  is  not  their  custom  to  grant 
life  to  captives  thus  mutilated. 

My  sufferings  were  great  in  themselves,  heightened  by 
the  sight  of  what  a  like  cruelty  had  wreaked  on  the  Christian 
Hurons,  fiercer  than  all  in  the  case  of  Eustace  ;  for  they 
had  cut  off  both  his  thumbs,**  and  through  the  stump  of  the 
left  one  they,  with  savage  cruelty,  drove  a  pointed  stake  up 
to  his  verv  ^Ibow.  This  frightful  pain  he  bore  most  nobly 
and  piously. 

The  following  day  we  fell  in  with  some  other  war  canoes, 
who  out  off  some  of  our  companions'  fingers  to  our  great 
dread. 

On  the  tenth  day  about  noon,  we  left  our  canoes,  and 
performed  on  foot  the  rest  of  the  journey,  which  lasted  four 
days.  Besides  the  usual  hardships  of  the  march  came  that 
of  carrying  the  baggage  ;  hunger,  too,  was  ever  increased 
by  the  ever  increasing  want  of  food,  so  much  so  that  for 
three  days  we  ate  nothing  but  some  berries  once  gathered 
on  the  way.f 

[Aug.  15th,]  At  last,  on  the  eve  of  the  Assumption  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  we  reached  the  first  village  of  the 
Iroquois,  I  thank  our  Lord  JesuA  Christ  that  on  the  day 
when  the  whole  Christian  world  exults  in  the  glory  of  His 
Mother's  Assumption  into  heaven,  he  called  us  to  some 
small  share  and  fellowship  of  his  sufi'erings  and  cross. 
Indeed  we  had,  during  the  journey,  always  foreseen  that  it 
would  be  a  sad  and  bitter  day  for  us.  It  would  have 
been  easy  for  Ben6  and  me  to  escape  that  day  and  the 
flames,  for  being  often  unbound  and  at  a  distance  from  our 
guards,  we  might,  in  th^  darkness  of  night,  have  struck  off 
from  the  road,  and  even  though  we  should  never  reach  our 
countrymen,  we  would  at  least  meet  a  less  cruel  death  in 
the  woods.  He  constantly  refused  to  do  this,  and  I  was 
resolved  to  suffer  all  that  could  befall  me,  rather  than  forsake 
in  death  Frenchmen  and  Christian  Hurons,  depriving  them 
of  the  consolation  which  a  priest  can  afford. 

On  the  eve  of  Assumption,  then,  about  three  o'clock,  we 

*  This  practice  of  cutting  off  fingers  so  constant  with  the  Iroquois  was,  be- 
fore firearms  were  known,  a  matter  of  policy,  to  uifit  their  prisoners  from  hand- 
ling the  bow.    Sagard,  461. 

t  The  text  in  Alegambe,  and  others,  has  here  some  details  which  I  omit,  as 
they  are  not  in  the  mannscripb  One  of  these  describes  tiie  Indian  custom  of 
taking  wana  water  to  check  the  pangs  of  hunger. 


THS  J0OUB8  PAPKnH. 


81 


reached  a .  river,  which  flows  by  their  village  [Ogsemenon], 
Both  banks  were  filled  with  Iroquois,  who  received  )b  with 
clubs,  fists  and  stones.  As  a  bald  or  thinly  cover^^d  head  is  an 
object  of  aversion  to  them,  this  tempi  ■'t  burst  in  it§  fury  on 
my  bare  head.*^  Two  of  my  nails  had  hitherto  escaped, 
these  they  tore  out  with  their  teeth  and  with  their  keen 
nails  strippd  off  the  flesh  beneath  to  the  very  bones. 
When  satisfied  with  the  cruelty  and  mockeries  which  we 
thus  received  by  the  river  side,  they  led  us  to  their  village 
on  the  top  of  the  hill.  At  its  entrance  we  met  the  youth  of 
all  that  district,  awaiting  us  in  a  line  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
all  armed  with  clubs.  Conscious  that  if  we  withdrew  our- 
selves from  the  ranks  of  those  chastised,  we  no  less  withdrew 
ourselves  from  those  of  the  children,  we  cheerfully  offered 
ourselves  to  our  God,  thus  like  a  father  chastising  us,  that 
in  us  "  he  might  be  well  pleased."  Our  order  was  as  follows : 
in  the  front  of  the  line  they  placed  a  Frenchman,  alas  I  en- 
tirely naked,  not  having  even  his  drawers  ;  Ben^  Goupil  was 
in  the  centre,  and  I,  last  of  all,  closed  the  line. 

The  Iroquois  scattered  themselves  through  the  line 
between  us  and  the  Hurons,  to  check  our  speed  and  afford 
more  time  and  ease  to  our  torturers  to  strike  us  thus  separ- 
ately as  we  passed.  Long  and  cruelly  indeed  "  did  the 
wicked  work  upon  my  back,"  [Psalms,  cxxviii.  3,]  not  with 
clubs  merely,  but  even  with  iron  rods,  which  they,  have  in 
abundance,  from  their  proximity  to  the  Europeans  ;  one  of 
the  foremost,  armed  with  an  iron  ball  of  the  size  of  a  fist, 
slung  to  a  thong,  dealt  me  so  violent  a  blow  that  I  should 
have  fallen  senseless,  had  not  fear  of  a  second  given  me 
strength  and  courage.  Bunning  then  our  long  race  amid 
this  fearful  hail  of  blows,  we  with  difficulty  reached  the  stage 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  village. 

If  each  here  presented  a  face  to  excite  compassion, 
Bend's  was  certainly  the  most  pitiable.  Being  by  no  means 
quick  or  active  he  had  received  so  many  blows  all  over  his 
body,  but  espjcially  in  the  fate,  that  nothing  could  be  dis- 
tinguished there  but  the  white  of  his  eyes  ;  more  beautiful, 
indeed,  as  he  more  resembled  Him,  whom  we  have  beheld 
*  as  a  leper  and  smitten  by  God  for  us,'  "  in  whom  there 
was  no  comeliness  or  beauty."     [Isaias  liii.  2.] 

We  had  but  just  time  to  draw  breath  on  this  stage  when 


•  Not  in  MSS. 


22 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


I     : 


one,  with  a  huge  club,  gave  us  Frenchmen  three  terrible 
blows  on  the  bare  back ;  the  savages  now  took  out  their 
knives  and  began  to  mount  the  stage,  and  cut  off  the 
fingers  of  many  of  the  prisoners,  and  as  a  captive  meets 
with  cruelty  proportioned  to  his  dignity  they  began  with 
me,  as  my  manner  of  acting  showed  me  to  be  in  authority 
among  the  French  and  Hurons.  Accordingly  an  old  man 
and  a  woman^  approached  the  spot  where  I  stood  ;  and  he 
commanded  her  to  cut  off  my  thumb  ;  she  at  first  drew  back, 
but  at  last  when  the  old  wretch  had  three  or  four  times  re- 
peated the  order,  as  if  by  compulsion  she  cut  off  my  left 
thumb  where  it  joins  the  hand.  Then  taking  in  my  other 
hand  the  amputated  thumb,  I  offered  it  to  thee,  my  true 
and  living  God,  calling  to  mind  the  sacrifices  which  I  had 
for  seven  years  constantly  offered  Thee  in  thy  Church. 

At  last  warned  by  one  of  my  comrades  to  desist,  since 
they  might  otherwise  force  it  into  my  mouth  and  compel  me 
to  eat  it  as  it  was,  I  flung  it  from  me  on  the  scaffold  and 
left  it  I  know  not  where.  Ben6  had  his  right  thumb  cut 
off  at  the  first  joint.  I  must  thank  the  Almighty  that  it 
was  his  will  that  my  right  should  be  untouched,  thus  ena- 
bling me  to  write  this  letter  to  beg  my  dear  Fathers  and 
brothers  to  offer  up  their  masses,  prayers,  supplications  and 
entreaties  in  the  Holy  Church  of  God,  to  which  we  feel  our- 
selves now  entitled  by  a  new  right,  for  she  often  prays  for 
the  afliicted  and  the  captive.f 

On  the  following  day,  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  after  spending  the  morning  on  the  stage,  we  were  taken 
about  mid-day  to  another  village,  [Andagoron,]  about  two 
miles  distant  from  the^first.  As  I  was  on  the  point  of  start- 
ing, the  Indian  who  had  brought  me,  loth  to  lose  my  shirt, 
sent  me  off  with  nothing  but  an  old  and  tattered  pair  of 
drawers  ;  when  I  beheld  myself  thus  naked,  "  Surely, 
brother,"  said  I,  "  thou  wilt  not  send  me  off  thus  naked, 
thou  hast  taken  enough  of  our  property  to  enrich  thee." 
This  touched  him,  and  he  gave  me  enough  of  the  hempen 
bagging,  in  which  our  packages  had  been  put  up,  to  cover 
my  shoulders  and  part  of  my  body.     But  my  flesh,  mangled 


*  In  tbe  printed  text  are  here  some  words,  stating  ber  to  have  been  a  Chris- 
fian  Algonqnin,  named  Jane,  not  long  before  taken  by  the  Iroquois. 

t  Here  ends  the  Urst  part,  written  apparently  apart  from  what  follows ;  which 
is  not  in  the  attested  copy  in  Canada.  'Ibis  we  have  hitherto  followed,  the  rest 
we  take  as  given  by  Tanner  and  Alegambe. 


I 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


23 


by  their  blows  and  stripes,  could  not  bear  this  rough  and 
coarse  cloth.  On  the  way,  while  scarcely  and  at  last  not  at 
all  covered  by  it,  the  heat  of  the  sun  was  so  intense,  that 
my  skin  was  dried,  as  though  in  an  oven,  and  peeled  off 
from  my  back  and  arms. 

As  we  entered  the  second  village  blows  were  not  spared, 
though  this  is  contrary  to  their  usual  custom,  which  is  to  be 
content  with  making  prisoners  run  the  gauntlet  once.  The 
Almighty,  doubtless,  wished  us  to  be  somewhat  likened  in 
this  point  to  his  Apostle,  who  glories  that  he  was  thrice 
beaten  with  rods,  and  though  they  received  us  with  fewer 
blows  than  the  first,  these  were  more  cruelly  given,  being 
better  aimed  from  there  being  less  of  a  crowd,  and  some 
struck  constantly  on  the  shins  to  our  exquisite  pain. 

The  rest  of  the  day  we  spent  on  the  stage,  and  the 
nigbt  in  a  hut  tied  down  half  naked  to  the  bare  ground,  at 
the  mercy  of  all  ages  and  sexes  ;  for  we  had  been  handed 
over  to  the  sport  of  the  children  and  youth,  who  threw  hot 
coals  on  our  naked  bodies,  which,  bound  as  we  were,  it  was  no 
easy  matter  to  shake  off.  In  this  manner  Indian  children 
make  their  apprenticeship  in  cruelty,  and  from  less  grow  ac- 
customed to  greater. 

In  this  village  we  spent  two  days  and  nights,  with 
scarcely  any  food  or  sleep,  in  great  anguish  of  mind  as  far  as 
I  was  concerned ;  for  from  time  to  time  they  mounted  the 
stage,  cutting  off  the  fingers  of  my  Huron  companions,  and 
binding  their  clenched  hands  in  hard  cords  so  tightly  drawn 
that  they  fainted,  and  while  each  suffered  but  his  own 
pain,  I  suffered  that  of  all.  I  was  afflicted  with  as  intense 
grief  as  you  can  imagine  a  most  loving  father's  heart  to  feel 
at  the  sight  of  his  children's  misery,  for,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  old  Christians,  I  had  begotten  them  all  recently  in 
Christ  by  baptism. 

Yet  amid  all  this  the  Lord  gave  me  such  strength,  that 
suffering  myself  I  was  able  to  console  the  suffering  Hurons 
and  French ;  so  that  both  on  the  road  and  on  the  stage, 
when  the  tormenting  crowd  of  'saluters'  *  had  dropped  away, 
I  exhorted  them,  at  one  time  together,  at  another  individu- 
ally, to  preserve  their  patience  and  not  lose  confidence,  which 
would  have  a  great  reward ;  to  remember  "  that  by  many 


*  (So  tihey  call  those  who  wreak  their  cmelty  on  captives  brought  in.)  Note> 
m  the  originaL 


! 


24 


THB  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


!''■ '  '1 

S; 


;  III 

■  :!i 

lid '  !i 


i  I 

I 

i    i 


!;:  I 


:i"     I 


:i| 


1 1 


)  I 


tribulations  it  behoves  us  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;"  that  the  time  was  come,  indeed,  foretold  us  by  God, 
when  he  said  :  "  Ye  shall  lament  and  weep,  but  the  world 
shall  rejoice,  but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy  ;"  that 
we  were  like  to  "  a  woman  who,  when  she  is  in  travail,  hath 
sorrow  because  her  hour  is  come ;  but  when  she  has  brought 
forth,  no  longer  remembers  her  anguish  for  joy  that  a  man  is 
born  into  the  world  ; "  [John  xvi.  21 ;]  so  should  they  feel 
assured  that  in  a  few  days  these  momentary  pains  would 
give  place  to  never-ending  joys.  And  surely  I  had  reason 
to.  rejoice  when  I  beheld  them  so  well  disposed,  especially 
the  older  Christians,  Joseph,  Eustace  and  two  others,  for  on 
the  very  day  that  we  reached  the  first  village,  the  fifth  one, 
Theodore,  had  freed  himself  from  his  bonds,  but  as  in  the 
battle  his  shoulder  had  been  broken  by  a  blow  of  a  musket, 
he  died  on  his  way  to  the  French. 

Never  till  now  had  the  Indian  scafibld  beheld  French 
or  other  Christian  captives.*  Hence,  contrary  to  usual  cus- 
tom, we  were  led  around  through  all  their  villages  to  gratify 
the  general  curiosity.  -  The  third  indeed  [Teonontogen]  we 
entered  scatheless,  but  on  the  scafibld  a  scene  met  my  eyes 
more  heart-rending  than  any  torment ;  it  was  a  group  of 
four  Hurons  taken  elsewhere  by  another  party  and  dragged 
in  to  swell  our  wretched  company.  Among  other  cruelties, 
every  one  of  these  had  lost  some  fingers,  and  the  eldest  of 
the  band  his  two  thumbs.  As  soon  as  I  reached  them,  I 
began  to  instruct  them  separately  on  the  articles  of  faith, 
then  on  the  very  stage  itself  I  baptized  two  with  rain-drops 
gathered  from  the  leaves  of  a  stalk  of  Indian  corn  given  us 
to  chew  ;  the  other  two  I  baptized  at  a  little  stream,  which 
we  passed  when  led  to  another  village.  At  this  place,  cold 
setting  in  after  the  rain,  we  suflered  extremely  from  it  as  we 
were  entirely  uncovered.  Often  shivering  with  cold  on  the 
stage,  I  would,  unordered,  come  down  and  enter  some  hut 
but  I  could  scarcely  begin  to  warm  myself  when  I  was 
commanded  to  return  to  the  scaffold. 

William  Couture  had  thus  far  lost  none  of  his  fingers ; 
this  excited  the  displeasure  of  an  Indian  in  the  village,  and 
he  sawed  off  half  the  forefinger  of  his  right  hand  ;  the  pain 

*  A  Frenchman,  Peter  Mngnan,  had  indeed  been  put  to  death  as  earlj  as 
1628  by  the  Mohawks  to  whom  he  went  as  ambassador.  (Sagard,  p.  483. 
Le  Clerc,  ch.  ix.)  But  this  was  probably  forgotten  by  them  and  unknown  to  F. 
Jogues.  Margueri6  and  Godefroy,  taken  in  1640,  were  not  tortured.  Rel.  1C40-1. 


THS  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


30 


kingdom  of 
lusbyGod, 
fc  the  world 
joy;"  that 
ravail,  hath 
las  brought 
It  a  man  is 
i  they  feel 
ains  would 
had  reason 
especially 
ers,  foron 
'  fifth  one, 
as  in  the 
a  musket, 

d  French 
isual  cus- 
to  gratify 
ogen]  we 
;  my  eyes 

group  of 

dragged 
cruelties, 
eldest  of 

them,  I 
>f  faith, 
in-drops 
?iven  us 
u.  which 
_ce,  cold 
it  as  we 

on  the 
ue  hut 

I  was 

ingers ; 
:e,  and 
le  pain 

early  ns 
p.  483, 
vn  to  F. 
1C40-1. 


was  more  excruciating,  as  he  employed  not  a  knife,  but  a 
shell  very  common  there.  As  it  could  not  sever  the  sinews, 
which  were  hard  and  slippery,  he  wrenched  the  finger  so 
violently  that  when  the  sinews  gave  way,  the  poor  sufferer's 
arms  swelled  frightfully  up  to  his  very  elbow.  An  Indian 
seeing  it,  was  touched  with  compassion  and  took  him  to  his 
hut  where  he  kept  him  the  two  days  which  we  spent  in  that 
village,  leaving  me  in  ignorance  and  great  anxiety  as  to  his 
fate.  At  nightfall  we  were  taken  to  a  hut,  where  the  youth 
awaited  us.  Being  oi-dered  to  sing  as  other  captives  do,  we 
at  last  complied,  for  alas  I  what  could  we  do ;  but  we 
"  sang  the  canticles  of  the  Lord  in  a  strange  land."  Tor- 
ture followed  the  chanting,  and  its  fury  burst  especially  on 
Ben6  and  myself,  for  the  good  savage  still  kept  William  in 
his  hut.  On  me  then,  and  especially  on  Ben6,  they  threw 
hot  ashes  and  live  coals,  by  which  he  was  severely  burnt  in 
the  breast. 

They  next  hung  me  between  two  poles  in  the  hut,  tied 
by  the  arms  above  the  elbow,  with  coarse  rope  woven  of  the 
bark  of  trees.*  Then  I  thought  I  was  to  be  burnt,  for  this 
is  one  of  their  usual  preliminaries  ;  and  that  I  might  know, 
that  I  had  thus  far  borne  any  thing  with  fortitude  or  even 
with  patience,  this  came  not  from  myself,  but  from  Him 
who  gives  strength  to  the  weary.  Now  as  though  left  to  my- 
self in  this  torture  I  groaned  aloud,  for  "  I  will  glory  in  my 
infirmities  that  the  power  of  Christ  may  dwell  in  me," 
[2  Cor.  xii.  9,]  and  from  my  intense  pain  I  begged  my  tor- 
turers to  ease  me  some  little  from  those  hard  rough  ropes.  But 
God  justly  ordained  that  the  more  I  pleaded,  the  more  they 
drew  my  bonds.  At  last,  when  I  had  been  hanging  thus 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  they  unloosed  me,  as  I  was  on 
the  point  of  fainting.  I  render  thee  thanks,  0  Lord  Jesus, 
that  I  have  been  allowed  to  learn,  by  some  slight  experience, 
how  much  thou  didst  deign  to  suffer  on  the  cross  for  me, 
when  the  weight  of  thy  most  holy  body  hung  not  by  ropes, 
but  by  thy  hands  and  feet  pierced  by  hardest  nails  I 

Other  chains  followed  these,  for  we  were  tied  to  the 
ground  to  pass  the  rest  of  the  night.  What  did  they  not 
then  do  to  my  poor  Huron  companions,  thus  tied  hand  and 
foot?     What  did  they  not  attempt  on  me?     But  once 

*  Bressani  was  hung  np  in  the  same  way  and  loaded  ■with  chains.  This  tor- 
ture is  not  unlike  that  of  the  thumbscrew  applied  to  the  Jesuits  in  more  civilized 
countries.    See  Jardine  on  the  Use  of  Torture  in  England. 


26 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS.    • 


11 


u  u 


\%  f  I 


priest,  ever*un&umed  ftom^'J?'  *^**  ^^^'^  ^^'^st  save  me  ihrr 

lad  now  been  for  Beverfi V^i^?^^  detennined.    We 
from  eoaffoW  to  scaffoMbeeZ,  f  *""  """««  «"  village 

good  pleasure  of  God  and  ?L7'^°"*  ^*«  ^^^^rors,  yet  the 
hod  endured  such  opposU  oi  of  •  *^'^'°'^*^^  "P^^  ilim  That     • 

the^gn.^""°^  oa  n.,  advice,  be  .evS  IL*-"  - 
l^tj,  ^o3.JtSC  t'h''%''f''''="'«»  -solved 
H«j,na  they  likewi^  g^S  Ti'i    ?  '''°'»'  "»  «"« 


THE  JOGUKS  PAPERS. 


at 


save  me,  thy 
the  savages, 
t  village,  we 
Hch  we  had 
Dined.    We 
to  village, 
G^odand  to 
ness,  a  scoif 
^t  Jast  told 
les.     Sooth 
'"»  yet  the 
Jife,  where 
>ne  of  joy. 
or  the  last 
eir  mental 
Him  that     • 
^self ;  not 
'))  but  to 
}  to  reign 

especially 
d  not  be 
d  raising 
i>  so  that 
one  after 
our  ar- 
aade  me 

resolved 
gard  to 
council 
all  the 
cepted, 
in  the 
Anda- 
n,  and 
ned  in 
le  bore 


en  seek 
nd  thus 
tod  and 


all  most  piously,  and  while  it  is  usual  for  dying  captives  to 
cry  out, — 

"  Exoriaro  aliqnis  nostris  ex  osdbiu  nltor." — Ms.  W.  625. 

Bise  from  oor  scattered  bones,  avenger,  rise  I  '■' 

he,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  Christian  spirit  which  he  had  so 
deeply  imbibed  in  baptism,  implored  his  countrymen  who 
stood  around  not  to  let  any  feelings  for  his  fate  prevent 
the  conclusion  of  a  peace  with  the  Iroquois.  Paul  Onon- 
horaton,  who,  after  the  usual  fiery  ordeal,  was  tomahawked 
in  the  village  of  Ossernenon,  was  a  young  man  of  about 
twenty-five,  full  of  life  and  courage  ;  for  such  they  generally 
put  to  death,  to  sap,  as  it  were,  the  life-blood  of  the  hostile 
tribe.  With'  a  noble  contempt  of  death,  arising,  as  he 
openly  professed  on  [the  way,  from  his  hope  of  a  better  life, 
this  generous  man  had  repeatedly,  when  the  Iroquois  came 
up  to  me  to  tear  out  my  nails,  or  inflict  some  other  injury, 
offered  himself  to  them,  begging  them  to  leave  me  and  turn 
their  rage  on  him.  May  the  Lord  return  him  a  hundred- 
fold, with  usury,  for  that  heroic  charity  which  led  him  to 
give  "  his  life  for  his  friend,"  and  for  those  "  who  had  be- 
gotten him  in  Christ  in  bondage." 

Towards  evening  of  that  day  they  carried  off  William 
Couture,  whom  they  regarded  as  a  young  man  of  unpar- 
alleled courage,  to  Teonontogen,  the  furthest  village  of  their 
canton,  and  gave  him  to  an  Indian  family.  (It  is  the  cus- 
tom of  these  savages,  when  they  spare  a  prisoner's  life,  to 
adopt  him  into  some  family,  to  supply  the  place  of  a  de- 
ceased member,  to  whose  rights  he,  in  a  manner,  succeeds ; 
he  is  subject  thenceforward  to  no  man's  orders  but  those  of 
the  head  of  the  family,  who,  to  acquire  this  right,  offers 
some  presents.*)  But  seeing  that  Ken6  and  I  were  less 
vigorous,  they  led  us  to  the  first  village,  the  residence  of  the 
party  that  had  captured  us,  and  left  us  there  [Ossernenon] 
till  some  new  resolution  should  be  taken. 

After  so  many  a  long  day  spent  fasting,  after  so  many 
sleepless  nights,  after  so  many  wounds  and  stripes,  especially 
after  such  heart-rending  anguish  of  mind,  when  time  was, 
80  to  speak,  given  us  at  last  to  feel  our  sufferings,  we  sank 
into  a  state  of  helplessness.  Scarce  able  to  walk  or  even 
stand  erect,  nor  night  nor  day  brought  a  moment  of  repose, 

***  This  is  a  note  added  apparently  by  another  hand,  as  it  intermpts  the  nar- 
rative. 


mm 


i8 


UM 


H 


THB  JOGUES  PAPERS, 


«.jing :        ™=^' '  "'°™  true  he„  th^tt^"^  «^- 

them  ^th  il  °  ™°  "'  ™ote,  and  Mn!,!i-  °''.f  ""^  ''''«  «f 

""ovoSC  T^'^-    After  tfctkF  """■'  """^ 
*o  death  ^  m,"  r  '','°«^.  "hen  TO  wem  1    u?  """^  J""' 

where  The  nwT  ^"'^'"^'^  ^t"  Ne^  Pmni"^  ™ltreated 
the  great  ri^erS^"?"""."  «<>  called  fomS  *"  '^?  P°»' 
engated  ,„  f  ?  '  ^""rence :  here  «mrin„        '  """Pt'es  into 

ffiRht  Th.  "  ™™dmg  many  moiTfll  ">  *hat  afteV 
had  been  glT  '^""^  ■^'"""ed  ftS^i/ »?/'"*''«  «»'  to 
demanded^Stef "'  k""  "  S  forth^/i'd"®''  "-^^ 

"ally  and  niv  if"""*  """'«  eompWnta  S'""".  ""^^  »«• 

Iseptrr„       "°^"°"'°'''^'-ff^t?: 


THE  J00UE8  PAPERS. 


29 


mded  wounds  ; 
ne  myriads  of 
>  keep  from  us 
this,  we  suf- 
3where  is  the 


add  to  their 
0  corn,  care- 
ought  to  the 
oach  refused 
almost  lost 
day  by  day, 
some  bits  of 
hem,  mixed 
'Q  were  just 
it  to  be  put 
maltreated 
>  the  point 
mpties  into 

'of  French 
eh'eu,  they 
the  rest  as 
Q  a  single 
Imost  un- 
orks.    At 
a  handful 
10  bravely 
hat  after 
8  rest  to 
ugh  they 
■'  ^rong, 
"It  is 
uld  live 

three  of 
espe- 
.      He 
off  the 

id  Vir- 
lement 


not  more  than  twenty  leagues  from  these  Indians,  came  with 
two  others  to  effect  our  liberation.*    He  remained  there 
several  days,  offered  much,  promised  more,  obtained  nothing. 
But  as  they  are  a  wily  and  cunning  race  of  savages,  in  order 
not  to  seem  to  refuse  all  that  a  friend  asked,  but  to  concede 
something  to  his  desires,  they  lyingly  asserted  that  they 
would  in  a  few  days  restore  us  to  our  countrymen.     This  was 
perhaps  the  wish  of  some  of  them  ;  but  in  the  latter  part  of 
September  (for  constant  rains  had  put  off  the  matter  till  that 
time)  a  final  council  was  held  on  our  fate,  although  osten- 
sibly provisions  had  been  prepared  and  men  appointed  to 
take  us  back.     Here  the  opinion  of  the  few  well  inclined  was 
rejected,  confusion  carried  the  day,  and  some  clamorous 
braves  declared  that  they  would  never  suffer  a  Frenchman  to 
be  taken  back  alive.    The  council  broke  up  in  alarm,  and 
each,  as  if  in  flight,  returned  to  his  lodge  or  the  village 
whence  he  came.    Left  thus  to  the  cruelty  of  bloodthirsty 
men,  attempts  were  constantly  made  on  our  lives.    Some, 
tomahawk  in  hand,  prowled  arqjand  the  cabins  to  find  and 
despatch  us.    However,  towards  the  close  of  the  council,  God 
had  inspired  me  with  some  thought  that  induced  me  to  draw 
my  companions  together,  without  the  village,  in  a  field  be- 
longing to  the  cabin  where  I  was.     Here,  ignorant  of  what 
had  transpired,  we  lay  hid  in  comparative  safety,  until  the 
storm  under  which  we  should  all  have  fallen,  had  we  re- 
mained in  the  village,  was  somewhat  calmed. 

William  was  after  this  taken  back  by  his  master  to  his 
own  village.  Ken6  and  I,  perceiving  that  there  was  now  no 
hope  of  our  return,  withdrew  to  pray  on  a  neighboring  hill 
which  commands  the  village.  Here,  remote  from  every  wit- 
ness and  from  all  officious  intrusion,  we  resigned  ourselves 
entirely  to  God  and  to  His  holy  will.  On  our  road  back  to 
the  village  we  were  reciting  our  beads,  and  had  already  com- 
pleted four  decades  of  the  rosary,  when  we  met  two  young 
men,  who  commanded  us  to  return  to  the  village.  "  Dear 
brother,"  said  I,  "  we  know  not  whdt  may  be,  in  this  period 
of  general  excitement,  the  design  of  these  men;  let  us  com- 

*  This  was  the  celebrated  Arendt  Van  Curler,  so  highly  esteemed  by  the 
French  and  Indians.  The  latter  even  gave  his  name  perpetually  to  the  English 
governors.  He  was  the  constant  friend  of  Father  Jogues,  and  after  many 
ineffectual  attempts  to  ransom  him,  by  the  charitable  contributions  of  the  Dutch 
colonists,  aided  him  to  escape.  The  journal  of  his  present  visit  to  the  Mohawk 
Tillages  has  been  publiBhed  by  Dr.  O'Collaghaa  in  his  History  of  New  Nether- 
land,  vol,  i.  p.  834. 


111! 


30 


THE  JOOUES  PAPias. 


!  , 


^end  ourselves  earnestlr  f«  n  ^ 

Viipn  our  good  MoTht "    w^°l^  ?°^  ^'^  *he  most  bless«^ 

prayer,  when  at  its  ve?i*  «„,^^  ^^^  reached  the  vilk^«  • 

nf  1,,-  Vvp        oupenors,  to  whom  hi  ,     aiterwards.  bv 


THE  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


81 


his  breast  and  forehead ;  for  a  superstitious  old  Indian,  the 
grandfather  of  the  boy,  seeing  this,  ordered  him  to  be  killed. 
This  I  afterwards  learned  from  the  boy's  mother,  who  told 
me  that  he  had  been  killed  by  the  old  man  for  that  reason. 

But  to  resume  my  narrative.  After  I  had  been  a  little 
while  in  our  hut,  where  my  life  had  been  pretty  tranquil,  I 
was  taken  to  another,  the  hut  of  the  one  that  had  cut  off  my 
thumb,  a  most  bitter  enemy  of  the  Algonquins,  and  conse- 
quently of  the  French.  Here  not  I  alone,  but  the  Iroquois 
generally,  expected  every  moment  to  see  me  tomahawked. 
In  consequence  some  who  had  given  me  articles  of  clothing, 
that  I  might  in  part  at  least  cover  my  person,  now  asked 
them  back,  for  fear  of  losing  them  by  my  death. 

The  next  day  I  was  filled  with  so  great  an  anxiety  to 
know  what  had  become  of  my  dear  companion  that  I  re- 
solved to  look  for  his  body  at  all  hazards,  and  commit  it,  if 
possible,  to  the  earth.  After  stripping  it,  they  had  con- 
temptuously tied  a  rope  around  the  neck  and  dragged  it 
through  the  village  to  a  ravine  at  a  considerable  distance, 
where  they  flung  it.  As  I  was  going  out  of  the  village  I 
met  the  old  man  in  whose  lodge  I  had  previously  been  ;  he 
advised  me  to  stay  at  home  :  "  Whither  art  thou  hurrying," 
he  exclaimed,  "  thou  art  scarce  alive  ;  they  seek  thee  every 
where  to  slay  thee,  and  yet  thou  goest  to  find  an  already 
putrefying  corpse  ;  dost  thou  not  see  those  fierce  young 
braves  who  are  about  to  kill  thee  ?  "  Some  in  fact  had  gone 
out  of  the  village  just  before  me  with  arms  in  their  hands  ; 
but  fearlessly,  for  in  my  bitter  anguish  it  was  *  a  pain  to  live, 
a  gain  to  die'  in  such  a  work  of  charity,  I^'pursued  my  way. 
When  the  old  man  saw  me  so  resolute  he  asked  another 
Indian  to  go  with  me.  By  his  assistance  I  found  the  body 
which  the  dogs  had  begun  to  gnaw  about  the  hips,  and, 
sinking  it  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  torrent,  I  covered  it 
with  a  heap  of  stones,  intending  to  return  the  next  day  with 
a  spade  and  bury  it  secretly  and  alone,  for  I  was  afraid  that 
they  would  disinter  it.  As  I  re-entered  our  hut  I  found 
two  young  men  waiting  to  take  me  to  their  village  to  put 
me  to  death.  Aware  of  their  design  I  told  them  that  I  was 
in  the  hands  of  those  with  whom  I  lived,  that  if  they  gave 
the  slightest  consent  I  would  accompany  them ;  as  I  would, 
in  fact,  have  done.  Seeing  that  they  gained  nothing  in 
this  way,  the  next  day  one  of  them,  who,  at  the  time  of  our 
capture  had;  with  his  brother,  been  wounded  ^in  the  action. 


32 


THK  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


liffl'i 


111  I 


i '  f 


kill  mo,  when  he  wis  stonned  h!     '  ?."^  ^««  '"«Wnff  on  to 

«^d  presented  from  accoritrhj'^f  l°anofou4miy 

Ahnighty  teach  me  "tH^^^^^^^  Thus  did  the 

/  knowmg  that  he  hath  care  L      "^  ^o^'citude  on  him  '' 

foar  the  face  of  man"  when, )I^^ 

of  my  life,  without  whole  Iri-  "^^'^^'^  ^««  '^e  protect 

from  my  head.  '^  Permission  not  a  hair  cSuld  fall 

ceeded  to  S'spoTeari ^h^'^^^^f  °^Pl«h  ^T  design,  I  pro- 
hoe  t,  i^ter  the  bod;  Vut  Xs    TT?'  '^^^^  ^  ^de  ^ 
brother.     I  returned  to  the  snot   T^'^  had  carried  off  Z 
the  foot  of  which  fhn  '"®^P°*»  I  ascended  the  mmm*  „{ 
searched  the  wood  on  ZJ  ^'^?'  ^  ^'^^^e'^ded  S^-l 
The  torrent  ran  swoUe^  by'thTS  ^'^n^"'  «"  '°  -in' 
either  by  its  depth  or  the  co  d  fS    '^"'','  ^"*  undeterred 
K  I  tried  the  bottom  with  m/.-',  ""^^  *^«  ^''st  of  Octo- 
that  the  stream  mighT  nerh  " V*''^^"^  ^eet,  as  I  thought 
«pot ;  I  asked  all  whom^teTwth  ^'T  ^^  *°  Sj 
ot  him  ;  but  as  they  are  a  mo^f  -!  ^'^  ^^^  ^"^ew  any  thinff 
give  an  affirmative  anXrw1u?^^^«»« '^ce  and  alS 
lalsely  told  me  that  it  Cd  blen  dm  'T^  *°  truth,  H    ' 
,     nver     What  groans  diS  I  not  uttff  1  *"  ?  ^'^''^  ^'«t«nt 

from   he  young  men^htttryVdt^^^^^^^      away  I  hetd 
ot  the  Frenchman.    Hurrviru.T  *J     *"®  scattered  bones 
the  half-gnawed  bonettKinl^i  ?'b  ^  gathered  up 
foxes  and  the  crows,  and  clea^T  nf    /f^*u  ^y  *^e  dogs,  th? 
n  several  places;  thes^reve'^'li'/tf  .*^%«k»II  fral^tured 
the  earth  that  I  might  onrda*  if    ''?^'  ^  committed  to 
hear  them  with  me  as  a^eat  ^if  '"'^  ^ere  God's  will 
Chnstian  land.  ^^^^  *^easure  to  a  consecrated 

did  thTlrrufie'^Sr"'^^^  '  ^--  -d  W  not 

.quois  were;  but  thefXCrfe  t?^  ^""°"«  as  ZiToi 

m  our  cabin  an  idiot  XaX/    "'?  ""^^  ^"'i^'-     There  was 

.hands'  breadth  from  a  wretctpH  kT  J''  ^'*  ^^  eut  off  two 

yet  all  that  I  had  to  cov     ml     4  t'^  °^'  ''^'^^ong. 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


33 


ing ;  but  do  as  thou  wilt."  My  modest  excuse  offended 
him  ;  and  when  soon  after  I  went  to  the  huts  of  the  bap- 
tized Huron8,  whom  I  daily  instructed  and  "  bore  again  till 
Christ  should  bo  formed  in  them,"  (Gal.  iv.  19,)  he  came  in 
search  of  me  and  fiercely  bade  me  return.  Whei)  I  entered 
the  cabin.  Bend's  murderer  was  sent  for,  that  the  same  hand 
might  end  both  our  lives  ;  they  looked  for  him  in  yain  ;  he 
could  not  be  found.  I  was  accordingly  sent  the  next  day 
with  two  women  into  a  field  of  his,  where  he  was  then  stay- 
ing, under  the  pretence  of  bringing  back  some  article  or 
other,  but  in  fact  to  be  exposed  to  death ;  for  two  days  be- 
fore the  only  son  of  one  of  their  noble  women  had  died  in 
our  cabin,  and  I  was  to  be  sacrificed  to  his  manes.  These 
women  actually  had  with  them  the  squashes,  corn,  and  other 
articles  of  the  kind  which  were  to  be  the  fee  of  my  execu- 
tioner. "  But  I  like  a  deaf  man  heard  not  '*  the  vain  things 
they  devised,  "  and  like  a  dumb  man  opened  not  my  mouth, 
and  I  became  like  a  man  that  heareth  not,  nor  hath  a  reply 
in  his  mouth,"  (Ps,  xxvii.  14,)  "  because  in  Thee,  0  tiord, 
have  I  hoped ;"  but  mindful  of  his  meekness,  "  who  was  led 
like  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,"  (Acts,  viii.  32,)  I  went  to  my 
death  begging  the  Lord  with  David  "to  turn  away  evU 
from  my  enemies  and  scatter  them  in  his  truth."  (Ps.  liii. 
7.)  About  midway  we  met  the  looked-for  murderer.  Seeing 
him  at  a  distance,  I  commended  myself  for  the  last  time  to 
God,  begging  him  to  receive  a  life  spent  with  care  and 
anguish  ;  but  my  sins  still  rendered  me  unworthy.  He 
passed  quietly  by  us,  and  his  mother,  who  soon  met  us^ 
addressed  some  words,  of  what  import  I  know  not,  to  those 
who  conducted  me ;  on  this,  trembling  and  as  if  in  flight, 
they  darted  off,  leaving  me  in  the  road,  for  they  saw  that  I 
was  aware  of  their  design. 

Amid  this  frequent  fear  and  death,  while  every  day  I 
die,  or  rather  drag  on  a  life  more  bitter  than  any  death,  two 
months  glided  away.  During  this  time,  I  made  no  effort 
to  learn  their  language  ;  for  why  should  I,  who  every  mo- 
ment expected  to  die  ?  The  village  was  a  prison  for  me ; 
I  avoided  being  seen  ;  I  loved  the  wild  wood,  where  I  beg- 
ged the  Lord  not  to  disdain  to  speak  to  his  servant ;  to  give 
me  strength  in  such  fearful  trials — in  which  indeed,  if  I 
have  become  a  prodigy  to  many,  God  was  my  stout  helper, 
and  often,  by  His  unfailing  goodness,  roused  my  drooping 
spirits.     I  had  recourse  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  my  only 

SECOND    SERIES. VOL.  III.  13 


34 


THK  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


refuge  "in  the  tribulations  which  had  found  me  exceeding- 
ly : "  these  did  I  venerate  ;  with  these  I  wished  to  die.  Of  all 
the  books  which  we  were  carrying  to  Huronia  for  the  use 
of  the  Frenchmen  living  there,  none  had  fallen  into  my 
hands  but  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  with  the 
paraphrase  of  the  Bight  Bev.  Anthony  Godeau,  Bishop  of 
uratz.  This  little  book,  with  a  picture  of  St.  Bruno,  the 
illustrious  founder  of  the  Carthusian  order,  to  which  some 
indulgences  were  attached,  and  a  rude  wooden  cross  which 
I  had  made,  I  always  carried  about  me ;  so  that  wherever 
death,  ever  present  before  my  eyes,  should  strike  me  down, 
I  might  cheerfully  die  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  had 
ever  been  my  greatest  consolation,  with  the  graces  and 
indulgences  of  my  most  holy  mother  the  Church,  whom  I 
always  greatly,  but  now  most  tenderly  loved,  and  with  the 
cross  of  my  Lord  and  Saviour. 

And  now  the  middle  of  October  was  come,  when  the 
Indians  leave  their  villages  to  go  and  hunt  deer,  which  they 
take  by  traps,  or  kill  with  their  guns,  in  the  use  of  which 
they  are  very  skilful.  This  season,  to  the  Indians  one  of 
relaxation  and  enjoyment,  brought  its  new  burden  of  sor- 
rows for  me  ;  for  I  was  given  to  a  party  who  were  at  first 
amazed  at  me,  then  ridiculed,  and  at  last  began  to  hate 
me.  Mindful  of  the  character  imposed  upon  me  by  God, 
I  began  with  modesty  to  discourse  with  them  of  the  adora- 
tion of  one  only  God,  of  the  observance  of  his  command- 
ments, of  heaven,  hell,  and  the  other  mysteries  of  our  faith, 
as  fully  as  I  was  able.  At  first,  indeed,  they  listened  ;  but 
when  they  saw  me  constantly  recur  to  these  things,  and 
especially  when  the  chase  did  not  meet  with  the  desired 
success,  then  they  declared  that  I  was  a  demon  who  caused 
them  to  take  so  little  game.  But  what  turned  their  ill-will 
into  perfect  rage  and  fury,  so  to  speak,  was  this :  it  is  the 
custom  with  all  these  nations  to  have  recourse,  in  their 
hunting,  fishing,  war,  sickness,  and  the  like,  to  a  certain 
demon,  whom  they  call  Aireskoi.**  Whoever  desires  his 
fishing,  hunting,  or  other  expeditions  to  be  successful,  takes 
meat  and  other  of  the  better  articles  of  food,  and  begs  the 


*  In  Huron,  Agreskoni.  This  demon  or  divinity  is  evidently  the  same  as 
TharonhyawagOD,  or  the  holder  of  the  heavens,  whose  worship,  even  among 
the  so-called  Pagan  Iroqnois,  has  been  superseded  by  that  of  the  true  God, 
called  by  them  "  Niio,"  a  corruption  otDieu,  or  with  an  Indian  prefix,  Haw- 
enniia  .    , 


THl  JOaUKB   PAFERB. 


35 


oldest  of  tho  house  or  village  to  bless  them  for  him,  if  I  may 
use  the  expression,  and  there  are  some  to  whose  blessings 
they  attach  more  value  'ihan  to  others.  The  old  man  stand- 
ing opposite  the  one  wijo  holds  the  meat,  in  a  loud  and  dis- 
tinct voice,  speaks  thus  :  "  Oh,  demon  Aireskoi  I  lo  we  offer 
thee  this  meat,  and  of  it  we  prepare  thee  a  banquet,  that 
thou  mayest  eat  thereof  and  show  us  where  lurk  the  deer, 
and  lead  then  into  our  traps ; "  or  if  not  during  the  chase, 
"  that  by  thee  we  may  again  behold  the  spring,  taste  the 
new  harvest,  and  again  engage  in  the  chase  in  the  fall : ' 
if  it  be  a  case  of  illness — "that  by  thee  we  may  recovei 
health." 

The  very  first  time  I  heard  a  formula  couched  in  such 
words,  I  was  filled  with  a  deep  detestation  of  this  barba- 
rian superstition,  and  firmly  resolved  to  abstain  for  ever  from 
meats  thus  offered.  They  interpreted  this  abstinence  on 
my  part,  and  this  contempt  of  their  demon,  as  the  cause 
of  their  taking  little  game  :  "  the  wicked  have  hated  mo 
without  cause."  (John  xv.  25.)  As  under  the  influence  of 
this  hate,  they  would  neither  listen  to  my  instrnctionn,  nor 
help  me  to  aoquire  their  language  in  which  I  refuted  their 
fables,  I  resolved  to  devote  my  time  entirely  to  spiritual 
exercises.  Accordingly,  I  went  forth  every  morning  from 
the  midst  of  this  Babylon,  that  is,  our  hut,  where  constant 
worship  was  paid  to  the  devil  and  to  dreams,*^  and  "  saved 
myself  in  the  mountain,"  (Gen.  xix.  17,)  a  neighboring  hill. 
Here  I  had  formed  a  large  cross  on  a  majestic  tree,  by  strip- 
ping off  the  bark,  and  at  its  foot  I  spent  almost  the  whole 
day  with  my  God,  whom,  almost  alone  in  those  vast  wilds, 
I  worshipped  and  loved  :  sometimes  in  meditation  or  in 
prayer,  at  other  times  reading  an  Imitation  of  Christ,  which 
I  had  just  before  recovered.  This  for  some  time  was  unper- 
ceived  ;  but  on  one  occasion  finding  me,  as  was  my  wont, 
in  prayer  before  my  cross,  they  attacked  me  most  violently, 
saying  that  they  hated  the  cross,  that  it  was  a  sign  they 
and  their  friends,  tho  neighboring  Europeans,  knew  not, 
(alluding  to  the  Dutch  Protestants).     Upon  this,  I  changed 

*  An  instance  of  their  saperstitions  worship  of  dreams  gave  him  an  occasion 
of  Christian  fortitude.  A  sick  man,  for  whom  the  medicine-men  were  perform- 
ing their  usual  mummeries,  dreamed  that  he  should  recover  if  Ondesson  were 
to  come  with  his  Airihsa,  or  hook,  and  do  as  the  French  did  when  they  prayed; 
— they  called  on  Jogues  to  satisfy  this  dream ;  but  he  resolutely  refused,  though 
threatened  with  death ;  and  when  they  attempted  to  drag  him  there,  he 
•soaped  by  a  precipitate  flight— At^sux**  ilf<S«Sf.  (SmBruyai,  Bacinea  Agniera.) 


36 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


mj  conduct;  and  whereas  J  i,  a  ^  . 
praymg  or  kneeling  in  the  huf  ?K  *¥°'"  ^*^«f"%  avoided 
the  slightest  reasof  to  comlV  ^^J/  "'^^'  "°'  S^«  tS 
among  savages  but  little  aXtompS  f  ""'  1^°"'^'  ^^P^cially 
a«  prudence,)  I  now  conceived  tha?  T.'^t  ^'^^"g^/act  in 
fi^m  from  those  pious  exerc.?p«     t-  I  '^^"''^  "^  Wer  re- 
life-a  life  I  far%;eferreno  mvf  '^'^'  »P  «  spSual 
beUeved  would  be  serviceable  tTthl'^^n^^  '''''     This  I 
^f,/^«»J.«o'iveraion  should  come  «tvu''\'°  ^'^^  "moment 

^    m?.'%r  P°^«^-"  (AcsT  7)^'^  '^'  ^^'^''  i^ath 
yviiile  thusanobiecf  nffiJ-    '^    . 

«^uchfrom  hunger  Scold  /h' '°'"'*^' ^ ^^'•*«i"J7  suffered 
mer,  the  bitter  Wed  o/l^^^^^^         of  theiwest  ^f 
est  gainers  by  the  hunhn*,  1„    ^omen,  who  are  the  erea.t 
cause  of  their  want  anTpoZr^  t"^  ^^'"^'^  me  afthe 
\unger,  for  as  almost  alWK^*  •  ^  ^"^"^«d>  ^deed  Leat 
chiefly  lived  had  S  Uj  t'oT^r  ^^'^^  4S 
twns,  I  spent  many  davfS-      *^®  ^^^^^^^  ^  these  obla 
when.I  came  in  fa4h'd  I  wS'  '"^  "^'"''«*  ^^4  ntht 
over  their  fleshpots,  which  mvj  '''  °"^  %yptian7sit  fng 
aw  prevented  iSy  toucMng.  "^^fd  ^nn  ^"^"^  «elf.impos^f 
red  to  me  m  a  manner  dissuantn     *^T"Sb  reasons  occur- 
by  God's  grace,  I  never  su£j°^  "^^J'^"^  ^J  course,  y" 

when  thou  wnrtru ly  ^fiutj  .^"  War/'  (K^  xv   S 
m  thy  holy  city  Je/usa/em^fel%hr^ryservanl 
'r  ^„^!^!5-™- '  (Ps.  oxlvilYA  ^'^"  ^^^*  ^"  ^or  ever 


m 


with^;,^--^^^^^  -   — ve. 

dered  to  sleep  uncovered  on  th?^^^^^      ^*  "'^^^^  ^ben  oT! 
bark  ;  for  though  thev  h^H  li    ^'^  ?'°"°d  ^^^  «ome  rouSi 
useless  to  them,^ot  one  was  &  "*  '^^^^"^^^'^^^  P^Sy 
times,  on  a  ver^  bitter  nlhtT      *?.'"^ '  «»y>  when  some- 
«ecretly  take  one,  they  rSe\ t  on"'^'  ^T'''  ^  the  cSd 
^e,  so  great  was'theiJenmitv     M  '  ?°^  «*"PP«1  it  from 

the  filth  of  dust,"  (Job  vii  5  V  ;V  ^^    *  ^*^  withered  with 
^^  great  pain  all  Lrr^y'^/  «P'^*  ^^'h  cold,  and  gave 

r^t  ^r'*"--^^^^^^  on  these 

remembered  that  I  had  been  rSlv  .^""V^-'^^^'^We.    I 

ueen  recently  covered  with  the  life's 


THE  JOGTTES  PAPERS. 


87 


blood  of  my  dearest  companion — and  those  who  came  from 
William's  Villa^-  told  me  that  he  had  already  been  put  to 
death,  with  exquisite  torture,  and  that  I  myself,  on  my  re- 
turn, was  to  meet  the  same  fate.  With  this  came  up  the 
remembrance  of  my  past  life,  stained  with  so  many  sins, 
and  so  unfaithful  to  God ;  and  I  grieved  that  I  was  thus 
to  be  torn  away,  unaided  by  any  of  the  sacraments,  in  the 
midst  of  my  course — rejected,  as  it  were,  by  God,  with  no 
good  works  sent  on  to  plead  my  cause.  In  this  state,  loath- 
ing life,  yet  shrinking  from  death,  I  uttered  many  a  mourn- 
ful cry,  and  said  unto  my  God :  When  shall  my  sorrows  and 
miseries  have  an  end  ? — How  long  wilt  thou  forget  our  want 
and  our  tribulation  ? — When,  after  this  tempest,  wilt  thou 
give  us  calm,  and,  after  weeping,  joy  and  exultation  ? — 
"And  had  not  those  days  been  shortened,  my  flesh  had  not 
been  saved."  (Mark  xiii.  20.)  I  had  recourse  to  my  wonted 
refuge  of  the  Scriptures,  my  usual  retreat,  and  passages 
which  my  memory  had  retained  taught  me  how  I  should 
think  of  God  in  goodness,  even  though  .not  upheld  by  sensi- 
ble devotion  ;  that  I  should  know  that  "  the  just  man  lives 
by  faith."  (Wis.  i.  1.)  I  searched  them  ;  I  followed  their 
streamlets,  and  sought,  as  it  were,  to  quench  my  daily  thirst. 
"  I  meditated  on  the  law  of  God  night  and  day,"  (Ps.  i.  2,) 
and  "  had  not  the  law  of  God  been  my  meditation,  I  had 
perhaps  perished  in  my  abjection,"  (Ps.  cxviii  92,)  and 
"  my  soul  had  passed  through  a  water  insupportable."  (Ps. 
cxxiii.  8.)  "  But  blessed  be  God;  who  did  not  give  us  a  prey 
to  the  teeth  of  our  enemies,"  (Ps.  cxxiii.  6,)  "whose  hour 
had  come  and  the  power  of  darkness,"  (Luke  xxii.  53,)  "  in 
which  we  were  overmuch  oppressed,"  (2  Cor.  i.  8  ;)  so  that 
I  was  weary  of  life,  and  could  say  with  Job,  though  in  a 
different  meaning,  "Although  he  should  kill  me,  I  will  trust 
in  him."  (Job.  xiii.  15  ) 

Thus  passed  two  months  away  in  this  retreat,  where, 
like  St.  Bernard,  a  disciple  of  the  trees  of  the  forest,  I 
thought  of  naught  but  God,  until,  having  become  an  object  too 
hateful  to  all  to  be  any  longer  borne  with,  I  was  sent  back 
to  the  village  before  the  usual  time.  During  this  journey, 
which  took  us  eight  days,  "  I  was  become  like  a  beast  of 
burthen  before  God,"  (Ps.  Ixxii.  23j)  under  the  heavy  load 
of  venison  which  I  carried ;  and  being  ignorant  what  fate 
awaited  me  at  the  village,  since  many  reports  had  been 
spread  about  me  by  a  party  that  had  gone  before,  I  endeav- 


38 


f  M ', 


ii;  i ; ! 


THE  J0GUE8  Papebs. 


dressed  in  the  cWh^  ^  "^"^  ^  ^^"7  saw  thrS'''*'  °°' 
I  can,  in  trnff,    V,       i.  .  ° '""»•--«*..  iv.  647. 

.„ ■». ,„i^ „ „. „,.,._  ....  ""'''f  ">«  took  care 


t  Some  of  these  nobla  mnw  cowipbon,  abandoned 


"^ngs  on  the 
I  was  nearly 
le  open  air.« 
^ery,  for  the 
anuary.     In 
oy  worn-out 
I  the  streets 
tJayjoin  me 
ep-skins,  in 
•Id  was  not 
ndians  well 
aggage  had 
't  and  day 
>ved  to  see 
Bdicated  to 
If  leggings 

7. 

iod  up  to 
mger  and 
'  no  fixed 
e  are  re- 
irit;  we 
he  refuse 
'  (1  Cor. 

returned 
38,  until 
y,  hear- 
ts house 
■     This 
found 
oly  son 
in  the 
k  care 

woman, 
Ige  over 
nto  the 
:to  the 
was  set 
ndoned 

council 


THE  JOijrUES  PAPERS. 


of  me,  and  "  the  Lord  gave  me  grace  in  her  eyes."    Yet  all 
this  was  but  a  slight  solace  in  such  woe. 

When  I  saw  that  my  life  was  at  last  in  some  sort 
spared,  I  applied  myself  to  the  study  of  the  language,  and 
as  our  cabin  was  the  council- hall  not  only  of  the  village,  but 
almost  all  that  canton,  I  began  to  instruct  the  oldest  on  the 
articles  of  our  faith.  They,  too,  put  me  many  questions  as 
to  the  sun  and  moon,  the  face  which  seems  to  appear  on  her 
disk,  the  circumference  of  the  earth,  the  size  of  the  ocean, 
its  tides,  whether,  as  they  had  heard,  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  anywhere  met  each  other  ?  Adapting  my  philosophy 
to  their  reach,  I  satisfied  them  on  all  these  points  ; — then, 
indeed,  they  began  to  wonder  and  say :  "  Indeed  we  should 
have  lost  a  great  treasure,  had  we  put  this  man  to  death, 
as  we  have  been  so  often  on  the  point  of  doing."  Then  I 
endeavored  to  raise  their  minds  from  creatures  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  Creator :  I  confuted  their  old  wives'  tales  of 
the  creation  of  the  world,  which  their  fable  makes  out  to 
have  been  created  by  a  tortoise :  the  sun  was,  I  showed 
them,  not  only  without  intellect,  but  even  a  lifeless  mass, 
much  less  a  God :  "  with  whose  beauty,  if  they,  being  de- 
lighted, took  it  to  be  a  God,  they  should  know  how  much 
the  Lord  of  it  is  more  beautiful  than  it,"  (Wis.  xiii.  3;) 
that  Aireskoi,  whom  they  pretended  to  be  the  author  and 
preserver  of  life,  and  the  giver  of  all  the  good  things  which 
they  enjoyed,  was  not  a  God,  but  a  demon. 

Were  they  as  easy  in  belief  as  they  are  easy  to  be  con- 
vinced, the  matter  would  soon  be  settled  ;  but  "  the  prince 
of  this  world"  (John  xii.  31,)  expelled  from  almost  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  by  the  power  of  the  Cross,  seems  to 
have  retreated  into  these  regions  as  his  last  stronghold  ;  so 
that  the  kingdom  which  this  "strong  man  armed"  (Luke  xi. 
21)  has  possessed  here  for  so  many  thousand  years,  can  be 
overthrown  only  in  lapse  of  time,  and  by  unconquerable  con- 
stancy on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  of  Christ.  From  time  to 
time,  however,  Christ,  their  true  Lord  and  Lord  of  all, 
chooses  some  for  himself,  not  only  among  the  infants,  many 
of  whom  are  now  in  heaven,  but  even  among  adults,  some 
of  whom  I  baptized  in  sickness  or  in  bondage. 

Many  other  native  adtilts  I  instructed ;  but  some  refused 
to  listen  to  me,  others  rejected  me,  others  assented  merely 
with  the  lips,  from  a  kind  of  politeness  which  makes  them 
consider  it  rude  to  contradict  you,  and  which  would  easily 


i   i 


li'Uii 


^     ;  THE  JOQUES  PAPERS. 

mislead  most.      I  ««»»«♦• 

(d   Kings   XIX.  18,)  and  Z  l\!  i      ^°®®    '^fore   Baal " 
their  confessions,  to  announce  a  «  w '  ^^''^  ^^^^  heariL 
I  was  able,  to  succor  thedLl  w  '^'"5^  ''^^'•^^  «<>  far  af 
fants  in  danger  of  death      &  ^"*  especiaUy  to  save  in 
bitterest  mental  pangs     and  onT  ?^  ^^^^  We  in  my 
vmted  a  «eighbon-ng  V 1  a^e   and  ,  J^'".  "^'^^  ^^is  vie  "f 
dien,  I  learned  soon  after  in  «?i^^'®  ^^^P^^^ed  five  chil- 
In  ^i!'"*  to  heaven  ^°"'^^^  ^^«««ion,  that  all  had 

stud/of  Xir '&^^^^^^^      therefore,  and  efforts  at  the 

Ma  r  ^i  *^°  «oS\Sd  bv^^^  IT  '^'''  b«  without 
March,  when  the  snow  hfd  mp].3^'  ^^°"*  *he  middle  of 
them  to  their  fishinglound    ^  a    *'7^'  '^^^  *°°k  me  with 

this-with  the  entrS  of  deer  %,,,'  Jt^''     ^uch  food  2 
fied  excrement,  boiled  LJn«'  ?"  '^^^^^'^d  and  half.p„tre^ 
whole,  head  and  feet     S"  '  "^^'^^^^  ^^^^t^rs,  fmgs  eaten 
custom,  and  want7f\e ue^  ""!?'  T^'^^'^-^^huntr 

resound  with  the  praits  Af  fU^  ZT''''''  ««d  wild-w<^ 
creation  they  had  LThefrd  t  V^^^'J'  ^^^^^  ^^^  S 
trees  of  the  forest  did  I  car^pi'  How  often  on  the  statelv 
that,  seeing  it,  the  demo^  Ith'^t  '^''l^  »^°^e  of  Je  „/ 
they  hear  it  I  How  ofSn  to^d^  T  ^'  ^^"^  ^'•^"^hle  when 
to  form  the  most  holy  cros's  of  Vt  /  ^°^  '*"P  ^^  the  bark 
flj  before  it ;  and  thit  by     thou  Or    i  '^''  *^^  ^°«  «^S 

S'' '?  .*^  ^^^«'  <>f  thy  enemTei^  fp^'  ^^P^^^'  ""^i^ht 
mies  of  thy  Cross,"  (PfaH  i«  iS  *F^-  '"'''■  2,)  "  the  ene- 
pagan  who  dwell  in  thJli  "i  ^'^  '^e  misbeliever  anrl  Jl 
tearfully  there  I     ?    •  •  ^^°'^'  *"d  the  demons  w?ni  ^^ 


THE   JOGUES  PAPERS. 


41 


irsions  to  the 
the  Christian 
before   Baal " 
after  hearing 
ere,  so  far  as 
^  to  save  in- 
3olace  in  my 
'  this  view  I 
ed  five  chil- 
that  all  had 

Sforts  at  the 

be  without 
*  middle  of 
)ok  me  with 
'gly  started, 
oy  and  my- 

where  we 
ails  of  these 
ty,  the  fish 
ch  food  as 
half-putre- 
rogs  eaten 
id  hunger, 
'  tolerable, 
nd  in  that 
bylon  and 
xvi.  1-4,) 
y  God  on 
d  we  sing 
i^ild-wood 
om  their 
3  stately 
of  Jesus, 
le  when 
le  bark, 
»e  might 

'niight 
he  ene- 
md  the 

rule  so 

by  the 

Church 


recalls  the  story  of  His  Passion,  ro  that  I  might  more  un- 
interruptedly remember  the  course  of  its  bitterness  and  gall, 
and  "  my  soul  pine  away  at  the  remembrance,"  Jer.  iii.  20. 
When,  therefore,  I  had  fulfilled  the  task  imposed  on  me  by 
my  masters  as  their  slave — the  slave  of  savages — when  I 
had  cut  and  brought  in  wood  for  the  fire  in  the  lodge,  I 
spent  almost  all  the  rest  of  my  time  before  a  large  cross 
which  I  had  formed  on  a  huge  pine-tree  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  hut.  But  I  was  not  long  allowed  to  en- 
joy this  holy  repose  ;  indeed  too  many  days  had  passed  un- 
alarmed  by  my  wonted  terrors.  On  Monday  in  Holy  Week, 
an  Indian  came  to  us  from  the  village ;  the  reason  of  his 
coming  was  this  :  Ten  Iroquois,  among  whom  was  the  son 
of  the  man  who  had  cut  off  my  thumb,  and  in  whose  hut 
I  now  dwelt,  had  gone  out  on  a  war-party  about  midsum- 
mer. Summer,  fall,  and  even  the  long  winter  passed,  and 
yet  no  tidings  of  them  came  :  they  were  consequently  given 
up.  especially  as  neighboring  nations  said  that  they  had 
fallen  victims  to  the  cruelty  of  the  enemy.  Early  in  the 
spring,  during  our  absence,  a  captive  was  brought  in,  who 
being  also  questioned  as  to  them,  gave  the  same  answer, 
and  said  that  they  had  been  killed.  Then  indeed  deeming, 
what  they  already  believed,  to  be  now  passed  doubt,  they 
sacrificed  that  very  captive  to  the  manes  of  the  young  brave, 
my  master's  son.  But  the  soul  of  this  captive  seemed  too 
vile  to  atone  for  the  life  of  the  noble  youth.  I  was  accord- 
ingly sent  for  from  the  lake  where  we  were,  that  my  life 
with  his  might  compensate  for  the  death  of  the  chieftain. 
Such,  at  least,  was  the  conclusion  to  which  one  or  two  old 
women  and  a  decrepit  old  man  had  come.  We  consequent- 
ly set  out  the  next  day,  as  if  in  flight,  under  the  pretence 
that  parties  of  the  enemy  were  around  us.  We  reached 
the  village  towards  evening,  on  Maundy  Thursday,  April  2. 
The  morrow,  which  had  closed  the  Saviour's  life,  was  now 
to  close  mine  also,  when  it  pleased  Him  who,  by  dying  on 
that  day,  had  given  life  to  my  spirit,  to  give  it  to  my  body 
also.  Accordingly  on  that  day,  when  I  was  to  have  been 
put  to  death,  rumor  was  spread,  as  if  without  good  au- 
thority, that  those  supposed  to  be  dead  were  still  alive  ; 
then  it  came  that  they  had  joined  another  war  party,  and 
were  now  bringing  in  twenty-two  captives. 

Thus  did  God  scatter  the  malignant  designs  of  the 
savages — instructing  and  showing  me  that  he  took  care  of 


42 


THE  J00UJC8  PAPEBs. 


•"d  other  |a„^r"™"/«Joi^<l  to  be  ««,„ed  ft„m  tl,. 

that  thoZ  T  ^''^'^  ^^'^  converaf  with  «ri^''V^  "^"^  bet- 

w"^ut  baptism.  "'^"^  ^*^'»o»fc  iQstruction,  or  a  chUd 

was  low' the  r'"/  T'  ^'P'  ^^^^L     tV'  ^''""^  ^^^^ 
their  l«n         °^J®°*^  of  my  solicitur T  t    "®^''  instruction 

t'iliS;^'.— .  '"-""^-'-y  naked 


THE   JOGUES  PAPERS. 


43 


conacious  that 

^  from  these 

given  over  to 
pelJed  to  drag 
path  ;  for  the 
ell  heavily  on 

was  at  once 
e ;  but  if,  as 
fs  after  hav- 
ith  grief,  for 
ench. 

»nd  solitude, 
lisniayed  at 
r  could  bet- 
et,  knowing 
■ruitful  than 

of  the  In- 
^r's  salva- 
7  remained 
;er  progress 
Qfants  and 
'never  dur- 

or  a  child 

bringing 
^ith  whom 
tion  of  all 
stripes, 

Five  of 
eing  boys 
struction 
torant  of 
2d,  by  a 
'  of  one 
lem. 
[ay  24), 
heir  lit- 
French 

naked 


is  libera- 


— not  even  with  any  kind  of  drawers  on — and  after  being 
severely  beaten  on  the  way,  had  their  thumbs  cut  off.  One 
of  them  (a  thing  not  hitherto  done)  was  burned  all  over  her 
body,  and  afterwards  thrown  into  a  huge  pyre.  Worthy 
of  note  is  a  strange  rite  I  then  beheld.  When  this  woman 
was  tortured,  at  every  bum  which  they  caused,  by  applying 
lighted  torches  to  her  body,  an  old  man,  in  a  loud  voice, 
exclaimed :  "  Demon  Aireskoi  i  we  offer  thee  this  victim, 
whom  we  burn  for  thee,  that  thou  mayst  be  filled  with  her 
flesh,  and  render  us  ever  anew  victorious  over  our  enemies." 
Her  body  was  cut  up,  sent  to  the  various  villages,  and  de- 
voured ; — for  about  midwinter,  grieving,  as  it  were,  that  they 
had  refrained  from  eating  the  flesh  of  some  prisoners,  they 
had,  in  a  solemn  sacrifice  of  two  bears,  which  they  offered 
to  their  demon,  uttered  these  words :  "Justly  dost  thou 
punish  us,  oh  demon  Aireskoi ! — lo,  this  long  time  we  have 
taken  no  captives :  during  the  summer  and  fall  we  have 
taken  none  of  the  Algonquins."  (Thcse  they  consider  pro- 
perly their  enemies.)  "  We  have  sinned  against  thee,  in 
that  we  ate  not  of  the  last  captives  thrown  into  our  hands  ; 
but  if  we  ever  again  capture  any,  we  promise  thee  to  devour 
them,  as  we  now  do  these  two  bears," — and  they  kept  their 
word.'*  This  poor  woman  I  baptized  in  the  midst  of  the 
flames,  for  I  was  unable  to  do  it  before,  and  then  succeeded 
only  while  raising  a  drink  to  her  parched  lips. 

On  the  eve  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  (June  23,)  of  whom 
it  is  written,  "  that  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birth,"  a  new 
weight  was  added  to  my  usual  sorrows  :  eleven  Huron  s  and 
a  Frenchman  were  brought  in  ; — three  Frenchmen  and  ten 
Hurons,  among  them  some  of  the  most  celebrated  Chris- 
tians, had  been  killed,  treacherously  circumvented  by  a  show 
of  friendship.  Of  these  they  bore  the  scalps,  or  hair,  which 
they  tear  off  with  the  skin  from  the  head  of  their  fallen 
enemies. 

Eeally,  I  felt  in  my  own  person  this  punishment  de- 
served by  my  sins,  and  pronounced  of  old  by  God  to  His 

<*.  An  idea  too  generally  propagated  by  those  who  knew  the  Indians  but 
slightly  is,  that  those  in  Northern  America  had  properly  no  religions  worship. 
This  is  refuted  W  many  facts ;  but  by  none,  perhaps,  more  clearly  than  that 
here  given  by  Father  Jogues.  We  have  here  all  the  essentials  of  a  sacrifice, 
which,  in  the  human  annals,  is  the  only  recognized  act  of  adoration  to  a  Supreme 
Being.  The  idea  of  man's  sinfulness,  of  his  condemnation  to  death,  of  a  per- 
mitted substitution,  of  the  great  human  sacrifice  that  was  to  appease  the  Al- 
mighty, are  all  here  recognizable. 


m 


THE  JOGUKS  PAPERS. 


Mh 


people  when  He  said   "fK 
0^  St.  John  f  if  ^^^*®''  «n<l  Whitsnn?;^   ^'""^  ^"<^  «orrow  " 

'fil  over  o™ 'S"'  o^^me/^C'bv^  rV'-  ^^'^  "  l™ 
'»'"<^,"  (Job  vK  '  '?     "?■"''  "y  day,  TitoX;   ^  ."'"  ■«" 

?f  his  duty  p  luf  "'*'^*  ^  ^1^0  remind  th/>-       '^^*'^^«  ? 
provide  ,^?..*^n»»  the  infJi,,i""^8« 'hem  ■'"their  tor- 

*  About  th-     •  *  °**K 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


45 


18,  their  festivals 
ler  and  sorrow  " 
md  the  nativity 
sorrows  on  me 
3  slaughter  of  a 
earful  torments, 
mtons.     "Woe 
e   ruin  of  my 

•e^"myJifeia 
(fS.  XXX.  11,) 

"»ty,  and  hath 
.  xxxviii.  12 ;) 
inebriated  me 
he  comforter, 
>  16;)  "but 
favor  of  God 
d  us,"  (Rom. 
and  wiJJ  not 
o*' a  hireling, 
•e  made, 
ther  through 
',  did  I  wish 
I  nailed  me, 
ive  and  die. 
1  captives? 
3ned  Huron 

ly  brought 

their  tor- 
ters?  who 

nstruction 
"'■  a  pecu- 

nation. 


had  risen  in 
ndent  tribe, 
«mph,  as  a 
»or,  and  he 
finding  tho 
"'M  dying, 
sympathy, 
■"ty  hy  the 

illed  by  a 
io  esoaps  ; 


fallen  from  the  true  Catholic  religion,  barred  the  entrance 
of  the  faith  to  these  regions,  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other, 
a  fierce  war  between  savage  nations,  and  on  their  account 
with  the  French,  I  should  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
these  Indians,  who  by  the  will  of  God  reluctantly,  and  I 
may  say  against  their  will,  have  thus  far  spared  my  life,  that 
through  me,  though  unworthy,  those  might  be  instructed, 
believe  and  be  baptized,  who  are  predestined  to  eternal  life. 
Since  the  time  when  I  was  taken,  I  have  baptized  seventy 
children,  young  and  old,  of  five  different  nations  and  lan- 
guages, that  of  "  every  tribe,  and  people,  and  tongue,  they 
might  stand  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."  (Apoc.  vii.  9.) 

Therefore  do  I  daily  bow  my  knee  to  my  Lord  and  to 
the  Father  of  my  Lord,  that  if  it  be  for  his  glory,  he  may 
confound  all  the  designs  of  the  Europeans  and  savages  for 
ransoming  me  or  sending  me  back  to  the  whites  ;  for  many 
of  the  Indians  speak  of  my  being  restored,  and  the  Dutch, 
among  whom  I  write  this,  have  frequently' oflfered,  and  now 
again  are  offering  to  rescue  me  and  my  companions.  I  have 
visited  them  twice,  and  have  been  most  kindly  welcomed ; 
they  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  effect  our  deliverance,  and 
have  made  many  presents  to  the  Indians  with  whom  I  am, 
to  induce  them  to  treat  me  humanely. 

But  I  am  now  weary  of  so  long  and  so  prolix  a  letter ; 
I  therefore  earnestly  beg  your  Reverence  ever  to  recognize 
me,  though  unworthy,  as  one  of  yours ;  for  though  a  savage 
in  dress  and  manner,  and  almost  without  God  in  so  tossed 
a  life,  yet  as  I  have  ever  lived  a  son  of  the  most  holy 
Church  of  Rome  and  of  the  Society,  so  do  I  wish  to  die. 
Obtain  for  me  from  God,  Reverend  Father,  by  your  holy 
sacrifices,  that  though  I  have  hitherto  but  ill-employed 
the  means  He  gave  me  to  attain  the  highest  sanctity,  I 
may  at  least  employ  well  this  last  occasifon  which  Ue  ofiers 
me.  Your  bounty,  surely,  owes  this  to  a  son  who  has 
recourse  to  you ;  for  I  lead  a  truly  wretched  lifie,  where 
every  virtue  is  in  danger  :  Faith  in  the  dense  darkness 
of  paganism,  Hope  in  so  long  and  hard  trials.  Charity  amid 
so  much  corruption,  deprived  of  all  the  sacraments.  Purity 
is  not,  indeed,  endangered  here  by  delights,  but  is  tried,  amid 
this  promiscuous  and  intimate  intercourse  of  both  sexes,  by 
the  perfect  liberty  of  all  in  hearing  and  doing  what  they 
please ;  and,  most  of  all,  in  their  constant  nakedness. 
For  here,  willing  or  not,  you  must  often  see  what  elsewhere 


46 


!      '  i';; 


'I  1-1 


■■'li 


If;; . 


THE  JOODES  PAPERS. 


IS  shut  oufc,  not  onlv  fr««. 
naked  ah  if  -r*^       *"®  ^e^«    to  whirh  k1  k       *"°^  super- 

fi../^'"'"''' °»®  through  vou.  .«  JsAAoJoouEs. 

Your  most  humble  servant  an^        • 

ervant  and  son  in  Christ, 

J^ATHEB   JOGUES    TO    Mr     J\„ 

fWntten  in  a  jargon  of  French  llr       . 
Of  the  Iroquois'  °T;^"''*\^'"«'*  «'«««  I  fell  int.  .u    . 

did  :   he  if  „?•      "*S:e,  nor  has  he  Jn«f  !  '"  V^®  gauntlet 

.    •This letter w«a written  '^^^  tali.      The 

co«te.y  and  kind  ^pSh^T '"'  ^°°^«  ^^^JSSsSfXt^lt'r^ 


TBS  J00UE8  PAPERS. 


47 


yen  from  curi- 
'  ^gging  Him 
dead  ;— beg- 
d  Buch  super- 
exposed  me, 
y  be  undefiled 
hen  that  good 
ther  the  dis- 
ther  us  from 
3n  1  Amen  I" 


0  JOOUES. 

all  my  dear 
i  cherish  in 
acrifices  and 

JOGUES. 


ERNOB    OP 

the  hands 
iting  here 
and  I  are 
real,  was 
gauntlet 
rs  as  we 
J"ght  in 
rties  are 
hat  the 
J.     The 

holj  mi». 
>•  he  was 
d-bearted 
i™  eveiy 


Iroquois  here  are  about  700  ;  they  have  300  arouebusses, 
and  handle  them  well.  They  can  reach  Three  Kivers  by 
different  streams.  Fort  Bichelieu  gives  them  a  little  more 
trouble,  but  does  not  hinder  them.  The  Iroquois  say  that 
if  those  who  took  and  killed  the  French  at  Montreal  had 
known  how  you  acted  in  rescuing  the  Sokokiois  from  the 
bands  of  the  Algonquins,  they  would  not  have  done  so.  They 
had  set  out  in  midwinter,  before  the  news  came.  For  all 
that,  a  new  party  has  just  set  out,  and  Mathurin's  man  (F. 
Brebeuf  knows  him  well)  is  with  them,  and  leads  the  band, 
as  he  did  at  our  capture  last  year.  This  troop  desires  and 
intends  to  take  French  as  well  as  Algonquins.  Do  not  let 
any  consideration  for  me  prevent  your  doing  what  may  be 
for  God's  glory. 

The  design  of  the  Iroquois,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  is  to  take 
all  the  Hurons,  if  they  can,  put  to  death  the  most  emi- 
nent, and  a  good  part  of  the  rest,  and  make  of  the  two  one 
people  and  one  land.  I  feel  great  compassion  for  these  poor 
people,  many  of  whom  are  Christians,  others  Catechumens, 
prepared  for  baptism.  When  shall  these  evils  be  stopped  H 
When  they  are  all  *;aken  ?  I  received  many  letters  from  the 
Hurons  with  the  Melation  taken  at  Montreal.  The  Dutch 
have  wished  to  deliver  us,  but  in  vain.  They  are  now 
making  another  effort,  but  will  be,  I  think,  equally  fruitless. 
I  am  more  and  more  resolved  to  stay  here,  as  long  as  it 
shall  please  our  Lord,  and  not  go  away,  even  if  an  occasion 
should  offer.'  My  presence  consoles  the  French,  Hurons  and 
Algonquins.  I  have  baptized  more  than  sixty  persons,  many 
of  whom  are  now  in  heaven.  This  is  my  only  consolation, 
with  the  will  of  God,  to  which  I  most  cheerfully  unite  mine. 

I  beg  you  to  recommend  them  to  offer  prayers  and 

masses  for  us,  and  especially  for  him  who  desires  ever  to  be 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

ISAAO  JOQUES,  S.  J. 
L-oqnois  Tillage,  Jane  SOth,  1648. 

in. 

father  joques  to  his  superior  in  canada. 

Beverend  Father:  The  Peace  of  Christ. 

On  the  very  day  of  the  feast  of  our  holy  Father  Ignatius 
(July  31),  I  left  the  village  where  I  was  a  prisoner  to  follow 
and  accompany  some  Iroquois  who  were  going  first  to  trade, 


f  I 


48 


rag  JOOOia   PAPEBS. 


»"i  ttl(8, 

then  to  fish     Wn  * 

«»«l«l  to  a  'nl»Ir„  .  *  S°'  through  thoir  tr««i„  .u 

I»»t,  which  ron  Z""-"'  '"'«'"  '""Sncs  b*S'?,'„''T,  P"^ 

«  noffl;;  -  ™bin,  I  am  very  loneirSt""? 
surpSe  „'?  *»  carry  to  the  iSf  h"?' "»'»« '»  ask 

i-xrw:Sdr  o'/t',?'?  •»"';  ^^"'ihanor^^'" 


fflc,  they  pro- 
•«^tho  Dutch 
hin^'.  While 
f  J  us  that  nn 
nd,  had  killed 
"oiierfl,  two  of 
th  rnoro  than 

08t  keen  and 
ptizod  these 
Wnd  might 

a  good  old 
0,  as  well  as 
her  nephew, 
i^ould  much 
B  here,"     I 
>  at  the  vil- 
•mpelled  to 
perpetrate, 
without  my 

this  good 
toke  some- 
red  in  the 
icted,  and 

^e  had  to 
wnst  the 
burn  me. 

against 
resolved 

French 
d, taken 

to  ask 
fhaps  to 
ubt  the 
mce  of 
iJachery 
o  write 

elf  I 
would 
etters. 


THE  J0QUI8  PAPERS. 


49 


I  foresaw  my  death,  but  it  seemed  to  me  sweet  and  agree- 
able, employed  for  the  public  good,  and  the  consolation  of 
our  French,  and  the  poor  Indians  who  listen  to  the  word  of 
Jesus  Christ.  My  heart  was  undisturbed  by  fear  at  the 
sight  of  all  that  might  happen — God's  glory  was  concerned. 

So  I  gave  my  letter  to  the  young  brave,  who  never  re- 
turned. The  story  given  by  his  comrades  is,  that  he  carried 
it  to  Fort  Richelieu,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  Fren'^h  saw  it, 
they  fired  their  cannon  at  them  ;  that  alarmed  at  this,  most  of 
them  took  to  flight  all  naked,  leaving  one  of  their  canoes,  in 
which  were  three  arquebuses,  powder,  ball  and  other  ar- 
ticles. When  this  news  was  brought  into  the  village,  the 
cry  was  raised  that  my  letter  had  caused  them  to  be  treated 
so.  The  rumor  spread  around  ;  it  reached  my  ears  ;  I  was 
taunted  with  the  mishap  ;  they  talked  of  nothing  but  burn- 
ing me  ;  and  had  I  been  found  in  the  village  when  these 
braves  returned,  fire,  rage  and  cruelty  had  deprived  me  of 
life. 

To  increase  my  misfortune,  another  party,  returning 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Montreal,  where  they  had  laid  an 
ambush  for  the  French,  said  that  two  of  their  party  had 
been  killed  and  two  wounded.  All  made  me  guilty  of  these 
mishaps.  They  were  now  beside  themselves  with  rage,  and 
impatient  for  my  return.  All  these  reports  I  heard,  offer- 
ing myself  unreservedly  to  our  Lord,  and  resigning  myself 
all  in  all  to  His  most  holy  will. 

The  commander  of  the  Dutch  post  where  we  were, 
aware  of  the  evil  design  of  the  savages,  and  aware,  too,  that 
the  Chevalier  de  Montmagny  had  prevented  the  Canada 
Indians  from  coming  to  kill  the  Dutch,  had  offered  me  means 
of  escape.  '  Here,'  said  he,  '  lies  a  vessel  at  anchor,  to  sail 
in  a  few  days.  Get  privately  on  board.  It  is  bound  first  to 
Virginia,  whence  it  will  carry  you  to  Bordeaux  or  Bochelle, 
where  it  must  stop.'  Thanking  him  with  much  respect  and 
courtesy,  I  told  him  that  the  Iroquois  would  suspect  them 
of  favoring  my  escape,  and  perhaps  do  some  injury  to  their 
people.  *  No  1  no  !'  he  replied,  *  do  not  fear  ;  get  on  board, 
it  is  a  fine  opportunity,  and  you  will  never  find  a  surer  way 
of  escaping.' 

At  these  words  my  heart  was  perplexed.  I  doubted 
whether  it  was  not  for  the  greater  glory  of  our  Lord  to  ex- 
pose myself  to  the  danger  of  savage  fury  and  flames  in  order 
to  aid  in  the  salvation  of  some  soul.    I  therefore  replied, 

SECOND   SERIES. — VOL.   III.  14 


so 


THE  J00UE8  PAPiaS. 


give  you  an  answer  on  thi?l!!;  '"P^'^n*.  that  I  cannot 
to-mght,  to  thibk  it  oZ    I  wjS  * '  ^^^  "'^^  if  you  pS 
I  will  examine  the  Sons  on  iT^^r "*^  '''  *«  our& 

£^i  .  "^  '®^"e8*-  The  niffhf  T  .«»  .  ?**^^  aatonished,  he 
jimplonng  our  Lord  not  to  K*e  aS' '°  PT^"-'  «*"»«  % 
but  to  give  me  light  to  know  vf       P'  *  conclusion  myself 

if  - he'r^^  '^^^  ~tS'\z\':^i/''' '  *^'*  - 

«.  Ihe  reasons  to  retain  me  in  . k  ^^^'  ^  ^o"Jd  follow 
^deration  of  the  French  and  Inf  '*'"?''^  ^^^^  the  con! 
fe  t  80  great  a  desire  to  4  nf    -J*"'  '*  ^  ^^^ed  them    and 

^t-n;  but  now  I  beh^/rV^\?PaStntl^;^ 

'^.^C^^^^^  '^  '^^tn-tr^  ^^^''  P-oe„ 
Ture  .^  '^  °»«^«acred  at  my  feet  %S^°^  ®««Pi',  had  «I- 
pure  as  an  angel. ,  Henry  ti^fn  J^  ^"""S  «>«»  was  as 
the  woods;  because  wffi  i^      at  Montreal,  had  fled  t^ 

I  L  K**u''^yn,''°«Jd  treat  him  «„  TZ'  """"^  ^"'^"ow  told 
William  Couture  I  lu'  '*<"'  ««  «>'  »«,»  d^,  ^^  l^T 

I  see  no  more  of  you  T  win         '  *'^  **»  escape :  as  J^nL 
well  that  I  remairS  thfs  "a^vr  '',  ^'  °«     ^ou^now 
your  best,  then,  to  escape  fbff^  °°^^  ^'^^  y^^r  sake    do 
liberty  or  life  tUl  I  seT?oi  i n  if.T'  *bink  of  my 'own 
young  friend  had  bee^iCt"  '*'^*^;'    ^'^^,  tSl  gZ 
Jim  that  he  would  let  h?m  1 1  *"  °^^.i°«°^  who  isu^ 
dehyerance ;  so  that  I  no  lol  Jr  ^^^  '^  ^  ^^'Jd  eCt^ 
on^ccount  of  the  French     ^     "*""  ^^^  '«««on  to  remSJ 


THK  JOOUEB  PAPERS. 


51 


\ 


kept  aloof  from  me,  as  a  victim  destined  to  the  flames,  be- 
cause they  feared  to  come  in  for  a  share  of  the  rage  and 
hatred  which  the  Iroquois  bore  me.  I  saw,  too,  that  I  had 
some  knowledge  of  their  language,  that  I  knew  their  country 
and  their  strength,  and  that  I  could  perhaps  contribute  bet- 
ter to  their  salvation  in  other  ways  than  by  remaining 
among  them.  All  this  knowledge,  it  occurred  to  me,  would 
die  with  me  if  I  did  not  escape.  The  wretches,  too,  had  so 
little  intention  of  giving  us  up,  that  they  committed  an  act 
of  perfidy  against  the  right  and  custom  of  all  these  nations. 
An  Indian  of  the  country  of  the  Sokokois,  allies  of  the  Iro- 
quois, having  been  taken  by  the  upper  Algonquins  and 
brought  to  Three  Rivers  or  Quebec  as  a  prisoner,  was  deliv- 
ered and  set  at  liberty  by  the  intervention  of  the  Governor 
of  New  France,  at  the  solicitation  of  our  Fathers.  The  good 
Indian,  seeing  that  the  French  had  saved  his  life,  sent  beau- 
tiful presents  in  the  month  of  April  to  deliver  at  least  one 
of  the  French.  The  Iroquois  retained  the  presents  without 
setting  one  of  us  at  liberty ;  a  treachery  perhaps  unexam- 
pled among  these  tribes,  ibr  they  invariably  observe  the  law, 
that  whoso  touches  or  accepts  the  present  made  him,  must 
execute  what  is  asked  by  the  present.  Accordingly,  when 
they  do  not  wish  to  grant  what  is  desired,  they  send  back 
the  presents,  or  make  others  in  their  stead. 

But  to  return  to  my  purpose.  Having  weighed  before 
God,  with  all  possible  abstraction  from  self,  the  reasons  for 
remaining  among  the  Indians,  and  those  for  leaving,  I  con- 
cluded that  our  Lord  would  be  more  pleased  with  my  taking 
the  opportunity  to  escape. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day  I  went  to  sahite  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernor, and  told  him  the  resolution  I  had  come  to  before 
God ;  he  called  for  the  officers  of  the  ship,  told  them  his 
intentions,  and  exhorted  them  to  receive  and  conceal  me — 
in  a  word,  to  carry  me  over  to  Europe.  They  replied,  that 
if  I  could  once  set  foot  in  their  vessel,  I  was  safe ;  I  should 
not  leave  it  till  I  reached  Bordeaux  or  Bochelle.  "  Cheer 
up,  then,'  said  the  Governor ;  '  return  with  the  Indians,  and 
this  evening,  or  in  the  night,  steal  off  quietly  and  make  for 
the  river,  there  you  will  find  a  little  boat  which  I  will  have 
ready  to  take  you  to  the  ship.'  After  most  humble  thanks 
to  all  those  gentlemen,  I  left  the  Dutch  the  better  to  con- 
ceal my  design.  In  the  evening,  I  retired  with  ten  or  twelve 
Iroquois,  to  a  bam,  where  we  spent  the  night :  before  lying 


52 


THB  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


down,  I  went  out  ^to  see  where  I  could  most  easily  escape. 
The  dogs  then  let  loose  ran  at  me,  and  a  large  and  power- 
ful one  snapped  at  my  hare  leg  and  hit  it  severely ;  I 
immediately  entered  the  harn,  the  Iroquois  closed  the  door 
securely,  and  to  guard  me  better,  came  and  lay  beside  me, 
especially  one  who  was  in  a  manner  appointed  to  watch  me. 
Seeing  myself  beset  with  these  mishaps,  and  the  bam  well 
shut  and  surrounded  by  dogs,  that  would  betray  me  if  I 
attempted  to  go  out,  I  almost  thought  that  I  could  not  es- 
cape, I  sweetly  complained  to  my  God,  that  having  given 
the  thought  of  escaping,  '  He  hath  shut  up  my  way  with 
square  stones,  and  in  a  spacious  place  my  feet.'  (Lament,  iii. 
9.)  This  whole  night  also  I  spent  without  sleep ;  towards 
day,  I  heard  the  cocks  crow  : — soon  after,  a  servant  of  the 
Dutch  farmer  who  bad  received  us  into  h^s  barn,  entered  by 
some  door  I  did  not  see.  I  went  up  to  him  softly,  and  not 
understanding  his  Flemish,  made  him  a  sign  to  stop  the  dogs 
barking ;  he  immediately  went  out,  and  I  after  him  as  soon 
as  I  had  taken  my  little  luggage,  con8i8ting  of  a  Little  Office 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  an  Imitation  of  Christ,  and  a  wooden 
cross  which  I  had  made  to  keep  me  in  mind  of  my  Saviour's 
sufferings.  Having  got  out  of  the  barn  without  making  any 
noise  or  waking  my  guards,  I  climbed  over  a  fence  which 
enclosed  the  house,  and  ran  straight  to  the  river  where  the 
ship  was  ;  it  was  as  much  as  my  wounded  leg  could  do,  for 
the  distance  was  a  good  quarter  of  a  league.  I  found  the 
boat  as  I  had  been  told,  but  as  the  tide  had  gone  down,  it 
was  high  and  dry  ;  I  pushed  it  to  get  it  to  the  water,  but 
finding  it  too  heavy,  I  called  to  the  ship  to  send  me  their 
boat  to  take  me  on  board.  There  was  no  answer ;  I  do  not 
know  whether  they  heard  me ;  be  that  as  it  may,  no  one 
appeared,  and  day  was  now  beginning  to  reveal  to  the  Iro- 
quois the  robbery  which  I  had  made  of  myself,  and  I  feared 
to  be  surprised  in  my  innocent  crime.  Weary  of  hallooing, 
I  returned  to  my  boat,  and  praying  to  the  Almighty  to  in- 
crease my  strength,  I  succeeded  at  last  so  well  by  working 
it  dowly  on,  and  pushing  stoutly,  that  I  got  it  into  the  wa- 
ter. As  soon  as  it  floated,  I  jumped  in  and  reached  the  ves- 
sel alone,  unperceived  by  any  Iroquois.  I  was  immediately 
lodgedin  the  bottom  of  the  hold,  and  to  hide  me  they  put 
a  large  box  on  the  hatch.  I  was  two  days  and  two  nights 
in  the  hold  of  this  ship,  in  such  a  state  that  I  expected  to 
be  suffocated  and  die  of  the  stench,  when  I  remembered  poor 


THE  JOOUES  PAPEBS. 


fts 


Jonas,  and  prayed  our  Lord  '  that  I  might  not  flee  from  His 
face/  (Jonas  i.  3,)  nor  depart  from  His  will ;  but  on  the 
contrary,  Hhat  He  would  infatuate  all  counsels' (2  Kings 
zv.  31)  that  were  not  for  His  glory,  and  to  keep  me  in  the 
land  of  these  heathen  if  He  did  not  approve  my  retreat  and 
flight. 

The  second  night  of  my  voluntary  imprisonment,  the 
Minister  of  the  Hollanders  came  to  tell  me  that  the  Iro* 
quois  had  made  much  trouble,  and  that  the  Dutch  settlers 
were  afraid  that  they  would  set  fire  to  their  houses  and  kill 
their  cattle.  They  have  reason  to  fear  them,  for  they  are 
armed  with  good  arquebuses.  '  If,'  I  replied,  '  for  my  sake 
this  great  tempest  is  upon  you,  cast  me  into  the  sea.'  (Jonas 
i.  12.)  If  this  trouble  has  been  caused  by  me,  I  am  ready  to 
appeaee  it  at  the  loss  of  my  life.  I  had  never  wished  to  es- 
cape to  the  injury  of  the  least  man  in  the  colony.** 

At  last,  ^ben,  I  had  to  leave  my  den  ;  the  sailors  took 
umbrage,  siyl  'tb-it  they  had  pledged  their  word  in  case 
I  could  set  i.  .  a?'  the  ship,  and  that  they  were  now 
taking  me  oft  .ae  very  moment  when  they  should  have 
brought  me,  had  I  not  been  there  ;  that  I  had  put  my  life 
in  danger  by  escaping  on  their  promise,  and  that,  cost  what 
it  might,  they  must  stick  to  it.'  This  honest  bluntness 
touched  me,  but  I  begged  them  to  let  me  go,  as  the  captain, 
who  had  opened  to  me  the  doorway  of  escaping,  now  asked 
me  back.t  I  was  taken  to  hb  house,  where  he  kept  me 
concealed.  These  comings  and  goings  were  done  by  night, 
so  that  I  was  not  discovered.  In  all  this  proceeding  I  might 
have  urged  my  own  reasons,  but  it  was  not  for  me  to  speak 
in  my  own  cause,  but  rather  to  follow  the  commands  of 
others ;  I  cheerfully  submitted.  At  last  the  captain  told 
me  that  we  must  yield  calmly  to  the  storm,  and  wait  till 
the  minds  of  the  Indians  were  appeased  :  in  this  advice  all 
concurred.  Here,  then,  I  am  a  voluntary  prisoner  in  his 
house,  whence  I  write  this.  If  you  ask  my  thoughts  in  all 
this  affair,  I  will  tell  you  first,  that  the  vessel  which  had 
wished  to  save  me  has  gone  off  without  me  ;  second,  that  if 
our  Lord  does  not  in  an  almost  miraculous  way  protect  me, 
the  Indians,  who  come  and  go  here  every  moment,  will  dis- 


*  He  could  taj  no  more,  for,  spent  with  suflferinga  of  mind  and  body,  and 
with  want  of  food,  he  fell  senseless  on  the  deck. — MS.  of  F.  BuTBnx. 

\  By  Captain,  he  means  apparently  another  than  Van  Curler,  whom  he 
calls  Governor,  for  he  was  not  in  his  house. 


94 


THEkJOOUKS  PAPERS. 


cover  me ;  and  if  they  ever  believe  that  I  am  still  here,  I 
must  necessarily  be  restored  to  their  hands. 

Nbwj  when  they  had  such  fury  against  me  before  my 
flight,  how  will  they  treat  me  when  I  fall  again  into  their 
power  ?  I  will  die  by  no  ordinary  death ;  their  fire,  rage, 
and  new-devised  cruelties  will  wring  out  my  life.  Blessed 
be  Qod'a  name  for  ever  I  We  are  ever  in  the  bosom  of  His 
divine  and  adorable  providence.  'Tea,  the  very  hairs  of 
your  head  are  numbered.  Fear  not,  therefore  ;  you  are  of 
more  value  than  many  sparrows,' '  not  one  of  whom  falls  to 
the  earth  without  your  Father.'  (Luke  xii.  7.) 

I  have  been  hidden  ten  or  twelve  days,  and  it  is  hardly 
possible  that  an  evil  day  will  not  come  upon  me. 

In  the  third  place,  you  will  see  our  great  need  of  your 
prayers,  and  of  the  holy  sacrifices  of  all  our  Fathers.  Give 
us  this  alms  '  that  the  Lord  may  render  me  fit  to  love  Him, 
patient  to  endure,  constant  to  persevere  in  His  holy  love 
and  service."  This  and  a  little  New  Testament  from  Europe 
are  my  sole  desires.  Fray  for  these  poor  nations  that  burn 
and  eat  each  other,  that  they  may  come  to  a  knowledge  of 
their  Creator,  and  render  Him  the  tribute  of  their  love.  '  I 
am  mindful  of  you  in  my  bonds,'  captivity  cannot  enchain 
my  remembrance. 

I  am,  in  heart  and  affection,  &c. 

Beoaelurwyok,  80  Angost,  1643.  * 


IV. 

LETTER  OF  FATHER  JOQUES  TO  FATHER  CHARLES  LALEMANT. 

Renub*,  January  6,  1644. 

'Now  I  know  in  very  deed  that  the  Lord  hath  sent 
His  angels  and  hath  delivered  me  out  of  the  hand  of  Herod, 
and  from  all  the  expectation  of  the  Jews.'  (Acts  xii.  11.) 
The  Iroquois  came  to  the  Dutch  post  about  the  middle  of 
September,  and  made  a  great  deal  of  disturbance,  but  at  last 
received  the  presents  made  by  the  captain  who  had  me 
concealed.  They  amounted  to  about  three  hundred  livres, 
which  I  will  endeavor  to  repay.    All  things  being  quieted, 

*  The  Mohawks  were  not  eauly  appeased,  and  Father  Jognes  remained  a 
close  prisoner  for  six  weeks ;  so  mncii  neglected  by  his  honest,  but,  it  would 
seem,  avaricious  host,  that  he  actually  suffered  hunger  and  thirst ;  for,  though 
his  excellent  Mend  Megapolensis  constantly  sent  him  victuak  firom  his  own  ta- 
ble, it  was  not  idways  ttiat  his  present  readied  the  missionary. 


THE  J00UK8  PAPERS. 


t» 


I  wa»  sent  to  Manhattan,  where  the  Governor  of  the  country 
resides.  He  received  me  very  kindly,  gave  me  clothes,  and 
passage  in  a  vessel  which  crossed  the  ocean  in  mid-winter. 

Having  put  in  in  England,  I  got  on  a  collier's  vessel 
which  brought  me  to  Lower  Brittany,  with  a  nightcap  on 
my  head,  in  utter  want  of  every  thing,  as  you  landed  at  St. 
Sebastian,  but  not  aft''    two  shipwrecks.*^ 


V. 

FATHEE  JOaUES'  DESCRIPTION  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND. 

New  Holland,  which  the  Dutch  call  in  Latin  Novum 
Belgium — in  their  own  language,  Nieuw  Netherlands  that 
is  to  say.  New  Low  Countries — is  situated  between  Virginia 
and  New  England.  The  mouth  of  the  river,  which  some 
people  call  Nassau,  or  the  Great  North  Biver,  to  distinguish 
it  from  another  which  they  call  the  South  Biver,  and  from 
some  maps  that  I  have  recently  seen  I  think  Maurice  Biver, 
is  at  40  deg.  30  min.  The  channel  is  deep,  fit  for  the  largest 
ships,  which  ascend  to  Manhatte's  Island,  which  is  seven 
leagues  in  circuit,  and  on  which  there  is  a  fort  to  serve  as 
the  commencement  of  a  town  to  be  built  here,  and  to  be 
called  New  Amsterdam. 

The  fort,  which  is  at  the  point  of  the  island,  about  five 
or  six  league::i  from  the  mouth,  is  called  Fort  Amsterdam  ; 
it  has  four  regular  bastions  mounted,  with  several  pieces  of 
artillery.  All  these  bastions  and  the  curtains  were,  in  1643, 
but  mounds,  most  of  which  had  crumbled  away,  so  that  they 
entered  the  fort  on  all  sides.  There  were  no  ditches.  For 
the  garrison  of  the  said  fort,  and  another  which  they  had 
built  still  further  up  against  the  incursions  of  the  savages, 
their  enemies,  there  were  sixty  soldiers.  They  were  begin- 
ning to  face  the  gates  and  bastions  with  stone.  Within  the 
fort  there  was  a  pretty  large  stone  church,  the  house  of  the 
Governor,  whom  they  call  Director  General,  quite  neatly 
built  of  brick,  the  storehouses  and  barracks. 

On  the  Island  of  Manhatte,  and  in  its  environs,  there 
may  well  be  four  or  five  hundred  men  of  diflFerent  sects  and 
nations  :  the  Director  General  told  me  that  there  were  men 
of  eighteen  different  languages  ;  they  are  scattered  here  and 
there  on  the  river,  above  and  below,  as  the  beauty  and  con- 

•  See  Bel.  1642-8,  p.  284. 


56 


THE  JOGUZS  PAPERS. 


yenience  of  the  spot  invited  each  to  settle :  some,  mecha- 
nics, however,  who  ply  their  trade,  are  ranged  under  the  fort ; 
all  t*^-^  others  were  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  natives, 
who,  1  the  year  1643,  while  I  was  there,  actually  killed 
some  two  score  Hollanders,  and  burnt  many  houses  and  barns 
full  of  wheat. 

The  river,  which  is  very  straight,  and  runs  due  north 
and  south,  is  at  least  a  league  broad  before  the  fort.  Ships 
lie  at  anchor  in  a  bay  which  forms  the  other  side  of  the 
island,  and  can  be  defended  from  the  fort. 

Shortly  before  I  arrived  there,  three  large  ships  of  300 
tons  each  had  come  to'  load  wheat ;  two  found  cargoes,  the 
third  could  not  be  loaded,  because  the  savages  had  burnt  a 
part  of  their  grain.  These  ships  came  from  the  West  In- 
dies, where  the  West  India  Company  usually  keeps  up 
seventeen  ships  of  war." 

No  religion  is  publicly  exercised  but  the  Calvinist,  and 
orders  are  to  admit  none,  but  Oalvinists,  but  this  is  not  ob- 
served ;  for  there  are  in  the  Colony  besides  the  Calvinists, 
Catholics,  English  Puritans,  Lutherans,  Anabaptists,  here 
called  Mnistes,  &c.,  &c.  V^hen  any  one  comes  to  settle 
in  the  country,  they  lend  him  horses,  cows,  &c. ;  they  give 
him  provisions,  aU  which  he  returns  as  soon  as  he  is  at 
ease  ;  and  as  to  the  land,  after  ten  years  he  pays  to  the 
West  India  Company  the  tenth  of  the  produce  which  he  reaps. 

This  country  is  bounded  on  the  New  England  side  by  a 
river  which  they  call  the  Fresche  river,  which  serves  as  a 
boundary  between  them  and  the  English.  The  English, 
however,  come  very  near  to  them,  choosing  tahold  lands  un- 
der the  Hollanders,  who  ask  nothing,  rather  than  depend  on 
English  Lords,  who  exact  rents,  and  would  fain  be  absolute. 
On  the  other  side,  southward,  towards  Virginia,  its  limits  are 
the  river  which  they  call  the  South  river,  on  which  there 
is  also  a  Dutch  settlement,  but  the  Swedes  have  one  at  its 
mouth  extremely  well  supplied  with  cannons  and  men.  It 
is  believed  that  these  Swedes  are  maintained  by  some  Am- 
sterdam merchants,  who  are  not  satisfied  that  the  West  In- 
dia Company  should  alone  enjoy  all  the  conmierce  of  these 
parts.  Xt  is  near  this  river  that  a  gold  mine  is  reported  to 
have  been  found. 

See  in  the  work  of  the  Sieur  de  Laet  of  Antwerp,  the 
table  and  chapter  on  New  Belgium,  as  he  sometimes  calls 
it,  or  the  map  "  Nova  Anglia,  Novum  Belgium  et  Virginia." 


THE  JOGUES   PAPERS. 


57 


It  18  about  forty  years  since  the  Hollanders  came  to 
these  parts.  The  fort  was  begun  in  the  year  1615 ;  they 
began  to  settle  about  twenty  years  ago,  and  there  is  al- 
reMy  some  little  commerce  with  Virginia  and  New  Eng- 
land. 

The  first  comers  found  lands  fit  for  use,  formerly  cleared 
by  the  savages,  who  had  fields  here.  Those  who  came 
later  have  cleared  the  woods,  which  are  mostly  oak.  The 
soil  is  good.  Deer  hunting  is  abundant  in  the  fall. 
There  are  some  houses  built  of  stone  : — lime  they  make  of 
oyster  shells,  great  heaps  of  which  are  found  here,  made' 
formerly  by  the  savages,  who  subsist  in  part  by  that  fish- 
ery. 

The  climate  is  very  mild.  Lying  at  40f °  there  are 
many  European  fruits,  as  apples,  pears,  cherries.  I  reached 
there  in  October,  and  found  even  then  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  peaches. 

Ascending  the  river  to  the  43d  degree,  you  meet  the 
second  Dutch  settlement,  which  the  tide  reaches  but  does 
not  pass.  Ships  of  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and  twenty 
tons  can  come  up  to  it. 

There  are  two  things  in  this  settlement  (which  is  called 
Benselaerswick,  as  if  to  say,  settlement  of  Benselaers,  who 
is  a  rich  Amsterdam  merchant) — 1st,  a  miserable  little 
fort  called  Fort  Orange,  built  of  logs,  with  four  or  five 
pieces  of  Breteuil  cannon,  and  as  many  swivels.  This  has 
been  reserved,  and  is  maintained  by  the  West  India  Com- 
pany. This  fort  was  formerly  on  an  island  in  the  river  ;  it 
is  now  on  the  mainland,  towards  the  Hiroquois,  a  little 
above  the  said  island.  2d,  a  colony  sent  here  by  this  Ben- 
selaers, who  is  the  patron. — This  colony  is  composed  of  about 
a  hundred  persons,  who  reside  in  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
houses  built  along  the  river,  as  each  found  most  convenient. 
In  the  principal  house  lives  the  patron's  agent ;  the  Minis- 
ter has  his  apart,  in  which  service  is  performed.  There  is 
also  a  kind  of  Bailiff  here,  whom  they  call  the  Seneschal, 
who  administers  justice.  ,Their  houses  are  merely  of  boards 
and  thatched,  with  no  mason  work  except  the  chimneys. 
The  forest  furnishing  many  large  pines,  they  make  boards 
by  means  of  their  mills,  which  they  have  here  for  the  pur- 
pose. 

They  found  some  pieces  of  ground  all  ready,  which  the 
savages  had  formerly  cleared,  and  in  which  they  sow  wheat  and 


96 


THE  JOGUEB  PAPEBS. 


oats  for  beer,  and  for  their  horses,  of  which  they  have  great 
numbers.*  There  is  little  land  fit  for  tillage,  being  hemmed 
in  by  hills,  which  are  poor  soil.  This  obliges  them  to  sepa- 
rate, and  they  already  occupy  two  or  three  leagues  of  country. 

Trade  is  free  to  all ;  this  gives  the  In<Uans  all  things 
cheap,  each  of  the  Hollanders  outbidding  his  neighbor,  and 
being  satisfied  provided  he  can  gain  some  little  profit. 

This  settlement  is  not  more  than  twenty  leagues  from 
the  AgniehrononSft  who  can  be  reached  by  land  or  water, 
as  the  river  on  which  the  Iroquois  lie,  falls  into  that 
•which  passes  by  the  Dutch,  but  there  are  many  low  rapids, 
and  a  fall  of  a  short  half  league,  where  the  canoe  must  be 
carried. 

There  are  many  nations  between  the  two  Dutch  settle- 
ments, which  are  about  thirty  German  leagues  apart,  that 
is,  about  fifty  or  sixty  French  leagues.  The  Loups,  J  whom 
the  Iroquois  call  Agotsagenens,  are  the  nearest  to  Bense- 
laerswick  and  Fort  Orange.  War  breaking  out  some  years 
ago  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Loups,  the  Dutch  joined 
the  latter  against  the  former ;  but  four  men  having  been 
taken  and  burnt,  they  made  peace.  Since  then  some  na- 
tions near  the  sea  have  killed  some  Hollanders  of  the  most 
distant  settlement ;  the  Hollanders  killed  one  hundred  and 
fifty  Indians,  men,  women  and  children.  They  having  then, 
at  intervals,  killed  forty  Hollanders,  burnt  many  houses, 
and  committed  ravages,  estimated  at  the  time  that  I  was 
there  at  200,000  liv.  (two  hundred  thousand  livres,)  they 
raised  troops  in  New  England.  Accordingly,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  winter,  the  grass  being  trampled  down  and 
some  snow  on  the  ground,  they  gave  them  chase  with  six 
hundred  men,  keeping  two  hundred  always  on  the  move 
and  constantly  relieving  one  another  ;  so  that  the  Indians, 
shut  up  in  a  large  island,  and  unable  to  flee  easily,  on  ac- 
count of  their  women  and  children,  were  cut  to  pieces  to 
the  number  of  sixteen  hundred,  including  women  and  chil- 


*  The  introduction  of  hones  and  of  European  fruits  was  much  neglected  by  the 
French  in  Canada,  and  even  later  than  this  date  an  apple  was  a  rarity. 

t  Mohawk& 

t  These  are  the  Mohegans,  whom  Champlain,  the  first  to  know  them,  calls 
them  " Mayganathicoise, '  which  means  "Wolf  tribe,"  p.  178.  The  Indian 
name,  Mohegan  has  been  preserved  in  English,  but  the  French,  translating  their 
name,  generally  call  them  Loups,  that  is,  Wolves,  though  Mahingan  is  not  un- 
firequent.  Champlain  puts  them  two  days'  march  from  the  Yrooois,  and  three 
or  four  from  the  Dutch. 


THE  JOQUES  PAPEBR. 


59 


dren.    This  obliged  the  rest  of  the  Indians  to  make  peace, 
which  still  continues.    Tliis  occurred  in  1643  and  1644. 

Three  ItiTen  in  New  Fnuice,  i 
Angiut  8d,  1646.  ^ 


VI. 


I 


LETTER   OF    FATHER  JOGUKS   TO   A  FRIEND. 

Alas,  my  dear  Father,  when  shall  I  begin  to  love  and 
serve  Him  whose  love  for  us  had  no  beginning  ?  When 
3hall  I  begin  to  give  myself  entirely  to  Him,  who  has  given 
Himself  unreservedly  to  me  ?  Although  I  am  very  miser- 
able, and  have  so  misused  the  graces  our  Lord  has  done  me 
in  this  country,  I  do  not  despair,  as  He  takes  care  to  render 
me  better  by  giving  me  new  occasions  to  die  to  self,  and 
unite  myself  inseparably  to  Him. 

The  Iroquois  have  come  to  make  some  presents  to  our 
Governor  to  ransom  some  prisoners  he  held,  and  to  treat 
of  peace  with  him  in  the  name  of  the  whole  country.  It 
has  been  concluded,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  French.  It  will 
last  as  long  as  pleases  the  Almighty. 

To  maintain  it,  and  see  what  can  be  done  for  the  in- 
struction of  these  tribes,  it  is  here  deemed  expedient  to  send 
some  Father.  I  have  reason  to  think  I  shall  be  sent,  hav- 
ing some  knowledge  of  the  language  and  country.  You  see 
what  need  I  have  of  the  powerful  aid  of  prayers,  being  amidst 
these  savages.  I  will  have  to  remain  among  them,  almosb 
without  liberty  to  pray,  without  Mass,  without  Sacraments, 
and  be  responsible  for  every  accident  among  the  Iroquois, 
French,  Algonquins,  and  others.  But  what  do  I  say  ?  my 
hope  is  in  God,  who  needs  not  us  to  accomplish  His  designs. 
We  must  endeavor  to  be  faithful  to  Him,  and  not  spoil  His 
work  by  our  shortcomings.  I  trust  you  will  obtain  me 
this  favor  of  our  Lord,  that,  having  led  so  wretched  a  life 
till  now,  I  may  at  last  begin  to  serve  Him  better. 

My  heart  tells  me  that  if  I  have  the  happiness  of  being 
employed  in  this  mission,  Ibo  et  non  redibo;  but  I  shall  be 
happy  if  our  Lord  will  complete  the  saci  ifice  where  He  has 
begun  it,  and  make  the  little  blood  I  have  shed  in  that  land 
the  earnest  of  what  I  would  give  from  every  vein  of  my  body 
and  my  heart. 

In  a  word,  this  people  is  *  a  bloody  spouse  to  me,' — *  in 


60 


THE  JOOUEB  PAPERS. 


my  blood  have  I  espoused  it  to  me.'  (Exod.  iv.  25.)  May 
our  good  Master,  who  has  purchased  them  in  His  blood, 
open  to  them  the  door  of  His  Gospel,  as  well  as  to  the  four 
allied  nations  near  them. 

Adieu,  dear  Father ;  pray  Him  to  unite  me  inseparably 
to  Him.  Isaac  Jogueb,  S.  J. 


vn. 


LETTER  OF  FATHER  JOQUES  TO  HIS  SUPERIOR. 

MoMTBEAi.,  April,  1646. 

Reverend  Father  : 

The  letter  which  it  has  pleased  your  Beverence  to 
write  found  me  in  my  retreat  and  in  the  exercises*  which 
I  had  begun,  there  being  no  canoe  to  carry  our  letters.  I 
chose  this  time,  because  the  Indians,  being  at  the  chase, 
allow  us  to  enjoy  a  greater  silence. 

Would  you  believe  that,  on  opening  your  lett^^,  my 
heart  was  at  first  seized  with  a  kind  of  fear  that  what  I 
desire,  and  what  my  soul  should  earnestly  desire,  might  not 
arrive.  Poor  nature,  mindful  of  the  past,  trembled ;  but 
our  Lord,  by  His  goodness,  has  given,  and  will  again  restore 
it  calm. 

Yes,  Father,  I  will  all  that  our  Lord  wills,  and  I  will 
it  at  the  peril  of  a  thousand  lives.  Oh  !  how  I  should  re- 
gret to  lose  so  glorious  an  occasion,  when  it  may  depend 
only  on  me  that  some  souls  be  saved !  I  hope  that  His 
goodness,  which  has  not  abandoned  me  in  the  hour  of  trial, 
will  aid  me  still.  He  and  I  are  able  to  trample  down  every 
difficulty  that  can  oppose  the  project. 

It  is  much  to  be  'in  medio  nationia  pravcBy  without 
Mass,  without  Altar,  without  Confession,  without  Sacra- 
ments ;  but  His  Holy  will  and  divine  providence  so  will  it. 

He  who,  by  His  holy  grace,  preserved  us  without  these 
helps  for  eighteen  or  twenty  months,  will  not  refuse  us  the 
same  favor,  for  we  do  not  thrust  ourselves  into  this  work, 
but  undertake  this  voyage  solely  to  please  Him,  without 
consulting  all  the  repugnances  of  nature. 

*  To  make  a  retreat  or  perform  the  spiritual  exercises  is  to  give  a  certain 
time,  nsnally  eight  days,  to  silence,  prayer,  meditation,  pions  reading,  auu  :xlf- 
examination.  This  is  required  annuaUy  by  the  rules  of  some  religious  orders, 
and  is  a  common  practice  with  the  devout  in  Catholic  countries,  where  suitable 
houses  are  to  be  found  adapted  for  this  temporary  retirement. 


i 


THB  J00UB8  PAPERS. 


61 


As  to  all  these  comings  and  goings  of  the  Iroquois, 
what  I  can  say  is,  that  I  see  very  few  from  the  first  two 
towns ;  yet  it  is  with  them  chiefly  that  we  are  concerned, 
as  the  last  killed  were  of  these  villages.  Scarcely  any  have 
come,  except  from  the  last  village,  where  Gouture  was ;  and 
they  profess,  at  least  in  words,  not  to  come  n  warriors  in 
these  parts.  It  is  not,  however,  with  these  last  that  we 
miast  dwell,  but  with  those  whom  we  do  not  see. 

I  thank  you  affectionately  for  sending  me  your  Huron 
principles.  Send  the  rest  when  you  please.  What  I  need 
18  chiefly  prayers,  formularies  for  confession,  et  y'usdem  gene- 
ris. I  will  thereby  become  your  debtor,  as  I  am  already 
on  80  many  grounds.  I  owe  your  Reverence  the  account 
of  the  '  Capture  and  death  of  good  Ben6  Goupil,'  which  I 
should  have  sent  already.  If  the  bearer  of  this  give  me 
time,  I  will  send  it  along. 

If  God  wills  that  I  go  to  the  Iroquois,  my  companion 
must  be  virtuous,  docile,  courageous,  and  willing  to  sufier 
something  for  Qod.  It  would  be  well  for  him  to  know  how 
to  make  canoes,  so  that  we  can  go  and  return  without  call- 
ing on  the  Indians. 

viu. 

CAPTIVITY  AND   DEATH   OP   RENE   GOUPIL. 


BT  FATHER  ISAAC   JOOCKS. 


Ben6  Goupil  was  a  native  of  Angers,  who,  in  the  bloom 
of  life,  earnestly  asked  admission  into  our  novitiate  at  Paris, 
where  he  remained  some  months  with  great  edification.  His 
bodily  ailments  having  deprived  him  of  the  happiness  of  con- 
secrating himself  in  the  holy  state  of  religion  as  he  had 
wished,  he  crossed  over  to  New  France,  as  soon  as  he  grew 
better,  to  serve  the  Society  there,  as  he  had  not  bad  the 
happiness  of  giving  himself  to  it  in  the  old.  And  to  do 
nothing  of  his  own  head,  though  perfect  master  of  his  ac- 
tions, he  submitted  himself  entirely  to  the  direction  of  the 
superior  of  the  mission,  who  employed  him  for  two  whole 
years  in  the  meanest  employments  of  the  house,  which  he 
discharged  with  great  humility  and  charity.  They  also  gave 
him  the  care  of  tending  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  hos- 
pital, a  post  he  filled  with  great  ability,  for  he  was  well 
skilled  in  surgery,  crd  with  equal  love  and  charity  always 


62 


THE   J00UE8  PAPERS. 


beholding  our  Lord  in  the  person  of  hiH  patients.  So  nwcet 
an  odor  of  his  goodness  and  other  virtues  did  ho  Iciivu  in 
that  place,  that  his  memory  is  still  in  benediction  there. 

As  we  descended  from  the  Hurons  in  July,  1642,  we 
asked  the  Reverend  Father  Vimont  to  lot  ns  take  him,  as 
the  Hurons  greatly  needed  a  surgeon,  and  he  consented. 
It  were  impossible  to  express  the  joy  of  this  good  young 
man  when  the  Superior  told  him  to  prepare  for  the  voyage. 
He  knew,  withal,  the  great  dangers  on  the  river  ;  he  knew 
how  furious  the  Iroquois  were  against  the  French  ;  yet  all 
this  could  not  deter  him  from  embarking  for  Three  Rivers, 
at  the  slightest  sign  of  His  will,  to  whom  he  had  vohm- 
tarily  resigned  all  that  concerned  him. 

We  left  there  (Three  Rivers)  on  the  first  of  August, 
the  morrow  of  the  Feast  of  our  Holy  Father.  On  the 
second,  we  met  the  enemy,  who,  divided  into  two  bands, 
awaited  us,  with  all  the  advantage  which  a  large  number 
of  picked  men,  fighting  on  land,  can  have  over  a  smaller  one 
of  all  kinds  on  the  water  in  bark  canoes. 

Almost  all  the  Hurons  had  fled  into  the  wood,  and, 
having  left  us,  we  were  taken.  Here  his  virtue  was  striking- 
ly displayed ;  for  as  soon  as  he  was  taken,  he  said :  '  Father  I 
blessed  be  God,  He  has  permitted  it ;  He  has  wished  it ; 
His  holy  will  be  done  1  I  love  it,  I  wish  it,  I  cherish  it,  I 
embrace  it  with  all  my  heart.'  While  the  enemy  pursued 
the  fugitives,  I  confessed  him  and  gave  him  absolution,  not 
knov..ng  what  was  to  befiall  us  after  our  capture.  The 
enemy,  having  returned  from  the  chase,  fell  on  us  with  their 
teeth,  like  furious  dogs,  tore  out  our  nails  and  crunched  our 
fingers,   all  which    he  endured  with  great  patience    and 


courage. 


His  presence  of  mind  in  so  distressing  an  accident  was 
shown  specially  in  his  aiding  me,  in  spite  of  the  pain  of  his 
wounds,  in  instructing,  as  far  as  he  could,  the  Huron  prisoners 
who  were  not  yet  Christians.  As  I  was  instructing  them 
separately,  and  as  they  came  to  me,  he  reminded  me  that  a 
poor  old  man  named  Ondoterraon  might  well  be  one  of  those 
to  be  killed  on  the  spot,  it  being  then  the  custom  always  to 
sacrifice  some  one  to  the  heat  of  their  ra^e.  I  instructed  this 
old  man'  carefully  while  the  enemy  were  busied  with  the 
division  of  the  booty  of  twelve  canoes,  a  part  of  which  were 
laden  with  necessaries  for  our  Huron  Fathers.  The  spoil 
being  divided,  they  killed  the  poor  old  man  almost  at  the 


THE  J00UB8  PAPERS. 


63 


very  moment  vrhen  I  had  given  him  a  new  birth.  During 
our  march  to  the  enemy's  country,  we  had  the  additional 
coDHolation  of  being  together  ;  and  here  I  witnessed  many 
virtues. 

On  the  way,  he  was  always  absorbed  in  God.  His 
words  and  conversation  were  all  in  perfect  subniissive- 
ness  to  the  orders  of  Divine  Providence  and  a  voluntary 
acceptance  of  the  death  which  God  sent  him.  He  oifered 
himself  to  him  as  a  holocaust,  to  be  reduced  to  ashes  in  the 
fires  of  the  Iroquois,  which  that  good  Father  should  enkin- 
dle. In  all,  and  by  all,  he  sought  means  to  please  Him. 
One  day — ^it  was  soon  after  our  capture — he  told  me,  while 
still  on  the  way, — *  Father  t  God  has  always  given  me  a 
great  desire  to  consecrate  myself  to  His  holy  service  by  the 
vows  of  religion  in  His  holy  Society  ;  till  now,  ray  sins  have 
rendered  me  unworthy  of  this  grace  ;  yet  I  hope  that  our 
Lord  will  accept  the  offering  I  wish  to  make  Him  now,  and 
to  take,  in  the  best  manner  that  I  can,  the  vows  of  the  So- 
ciety, in  the  presence  of  my  God  and  before  you '  Having 
permitted  him,  he  pronounced  them  with  great  devotion. 

Wounded  as  he  was,  he  dressed  the  wounds  of  others, 
not  only  of  the  prisoners,  but  even  of  such  of  the  enemy  as 
had  received  any  wound  in  the  combat.  He  also  bled  a  sick 
Iroquois,  and  did  all  with  as  much  charity  as  if  he  were  do- 
ing it  to  his  dearest  friends. 

His  humility  and  the  obedience  ho  paid  to  his  captors, 
confounded  me.  The  Iroquois,  who  had  us  both  in  their 
canoe,  told  me  to  take  a  paddle  and  use  it.  Proud  even  in 
death,  I  would  not.  Some  time  after,  they  told  him  to  do 
it,  and  he  immediately  began  to  paddle  ;  but  when  he  per- 
ceived that  the  Indians  wished  to  compel  me  to  do  bo  after 
his  example,  he  begged  my  pardon.  At  times,  ou  the  way. 
I  suggested  to  him  thoughts  of  flight,  as  the  liberty  given 
us  afforded  him  abundant  opportunity.  For  my  own  part, 
I  could  not  forsake  a  Frenchman  and  twenty-four  or  five 
Huron  prisoners.  He  would  never  do  it,  resigning  hunself 
entirely  to  the  will  of  our  Lord,  who  inspired  hi.'u  wiLh  no 
such  thought. 

On  the  Lake  (Champlain),  we  met  two  hundred  Iro- 
quois, who  came  to  Richelieu,  when  they  began  to  build  the 
ibrt ;  they  covered  us  with  stripes,  drenched  us,  as  in  blood, 
and  made  us  experience  the  rage  of  men  possessed  by  the 


THE  J0GUE3  PAPERS. 


devil.  All  these  outrages  and  cruelties  he  endured  with 
great  patience  and  charity  for  those  who  ill-treated  him. 

On  entering  the  first  town  where  we  were  so  cruelly 
treated,  he  showed  extraordinary  patience  and  mildness. 
Having  fallen  under  the  hail  of  blows  of  clabs  and  iron  rods 
poured  on  us,  and  unable  to  rise,  he  was  carried,  as  it  were, 
half-dead  on  the  scaj0fold,  where  we  were  already,  in  the 
middle  of  the  town,  but  in  so  pitiable  a  state  that  he  would 
have  moved  cruelty  itself  to  compassion  ;  he  was  all  livid 
with  bruises,  and  in  his  face  we  could  distinguish  nothing 
but  the  white  of  his  eyes ;  yet  he  was  the  nore  beautiful 
in  the  eyes  of  angels  as  he  was  more  disfigured  ;  and  like 
Him  of  whom  it  is  said,  *  We  have  seen  Him  as  a  leper,' 
&c. ;  *  There  was  in  Him  neither  comeliness  nor  beauty.' 

Scarcely  had  he,  or  even  we,  recovered  breath,  when 
they  came  and  gave  him  three  blows  on  the  shoulders  with 
a  heavy  club,  as  they  had  done  to  us.  After  cutting  off  a 
thumb  from  me  as  the  most  important,  they  turned  to  him 
and  cut  off  his  right  thumb  at  the  first  joint.  During  this 
cruel  operation,  he  constantly  repeated,  'Jesus,  Mary,  Jo- 
seph.' Daring  the  six  days  that  we  were  exposed  to  all 
those  who  chose  to  maltreat  us,  he  displayed  extraordinary 
mildness  ;  his  breast  was  all  burnt  by  the  live  coals  and 
ashes  which  the  boys  threw  on  his  body  when  he  was  tied 
down  on  the  ground  at  night.  Nature  gave  me  more  dex- 
terity than  him  in  escaping  some  of  these  pains. 

After  our  life  was  granted  us,  just  after  we  had  been 
warned  to  prepare  to  be  burned,  he  fell  sick  in  great  want 
of  every  thing,  especially  of  food,  for  he  was  not  accustomed 
to  theirs.  Here  truly  it  may  be  said,  ^  Non  cibua  utilis 
cegro.'  I  could  not  relieve  him,  being  also  sick,  and  not 
having  one  finger  sound,  or  whole. 

But  I  must  hasten  to  his  death,  which  wants  nothing 
to  be  that  of  a  martyr. 

After  we  had  been  six  weeks  in  the  country,  as  confu- 
sion arose  in  the  councils  of  the  Iroquois,  some  of  whom 
were  for  sending  us  back,  we  lost  all  hope,  which  in  me  had 
never  been  sanguine,  of  seeing  Three  Rivers  l^at  year. 
We  consoled  one  another  then  at  this  disposal  of  Provi- 
dence, and  prepared  for  all  He  should  ordain  in  our  regard. 
He  did  not  see  the  danger  we  were  in  so  clearly :  I  saw  it 
better.  This  made  me  often  tell  him  to  hold  himself  in 
readiness.    Accordingly,  one  day  when  in  our  mental  pain, 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


we  had  gone  out  of  the  town  to  pray  more  becomingly  and 
undisturbed  by  noise,  two  young  men  came  after  us  and 
told  us  to  return  home.  I  had  some  presentiment  of  what 
was  to  happen,  and  told  him  :  "  My  dear  brotlber,  let  us 
recommend  ourselves  to  our  Lord  and  to  our  good  mother 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  these  men  have  some  evil  design,  as  I 
think."  We  had  a  Uttle  before  offered  ourselves  to  our 
Lord  with  much  devotion,  beseeching  him  to  accept  our 
lives  and  blood,  and  unite  them  to  his  life  and  blood  for 
the  salvation  of  these  poor  tribes.  We  were  returning 
then  towards  the  town  reciting  our  beads,  of  which  we  had 
already  said  four  decades.  Having  stopped  near  the  gate 
of  the  town  to  see  what  they  would  say,  one  of  these  two 
Iroquois  drew  an  axe  which  he  had  hidden  under  his  blan- 
ket, and  dealt  Ben6  a  blow  on  the  head  as  he  stood  before 
him ;  he  fell  stiff  on  his  face  on  the  ground,  uttering  the 
holy  name  of  Jesus,  for  we  had  often  reminded  each  other 
to  close  our  voice  and  life  with  that  holy  name.  I  turned 
at  the  blow  and  seeing  the  reeking  natchet,  fell  on  my 
knees  to  receive  the  blow  that  was  to  unite  me  to  my  loved 
companion,  but  as  they  delayed  I  rose,  ran  to  him,  as  he 
lay  expiring  near  me.  They  gave  him  two  more  blows  on 
the  head  and  extinguished  life  but  not  before  I  had  given 
him  absolution,  wUch  since  our  captivity,  I  had  given 
him  regularly  after  his  confession  every  other  day. 

It  was  the day  of  September,  the  feast  of  St.  Mi- 
chael, that  this  angel  in  innocence,  and  martyr  of  Christ, 
gave  his  life  for  him,  who  had  given  him  His.  They  com- 
manded me  to  return  to  my  cabin,  where  I  awaited  during 
the  rest  of  the  day  and  the  next  the  same  treatment.  It 
was  the  belief  of  all  that  I  would  not  wait  long,  as  they  had 
begun  it,  and  in  fact  for  several  days  they  came  to  kill  me, 
but  our  Lord  prevented  it  by  ways,  which  would  take 
long  to  explain.  Early  the  next  morning,  I  did  not  fail  to 
start  out  to  inquire  where  they  had  thrown  that  blessed 
body,  for  I  wished  to  inter  it,  cost  what  it  might.  Some 
Iroquois  who  had  a  wish  to  save  me,  said,  "  Thou  hast  no 
sense ;  thou  seest  that  they  seek  thee  every  where  to  kill 
thee,  and  thou  goest  out  still,  thou  wilt  go  to  seek  a  body 
already  half  puterfied,  which  has  been  dragged  far  from  here. 
Seest  thou  not,  those  young  men  going  out,  who  will  kill 
thee,  when  thou  art  past  the  palisade."  This  did  net  stop 
me,  and  our  Lord  gave  me  courage  enough  to  be  willing  to 

SECOND  SEBIEB. — ^VOL.  lU.  15 


(,i 


THE   JOOUES   PAPERS. 


die  in  that  office  of  charity.  I  go,  I  seek,  and  by  the  help 
of  an  Algonquin  taken,  and  now  a  real  Iroquois,  I  find  it. 
After  he  had  been  killed,  the  children  had  stripped  him 
and  tieing  a  cord  around  his  neck,  dragged  him  to  a  torrent 
which  runs  at  the  foot  of  the  town.  The  dogs  had  already 
gnawed  a  part  of  his  thighs.  At  this  spectacle,  I  could  not 
withhold  my  tears.  I  took  the  body  and  aided  by  the  Al- 
gonquin, I  sank  it  in  the  water  and  covered  it  with  large 
stones,  to  hide  it,  intending  to  return  the  next  day  with  a 
spade,  when  there  was  no  one  near  and  dig  a  grave  and  in- 
ter it.  I  thought  the  body  well  hidden,  but  perhaps  some 
one  saw  u«,  especially  of  the  youth,  and  took  it  up. 

The  next  day  as  they  sought  to  Mil  me,  my  aunt  sent 
me  to  her  field  to  escape  as  I  think ;  this  compelled  me  to 
defer  it  till  the  next  day.  It  rained  all  night  so  that  the 
torrent  was  extremely  swelled ;  I  borrowed  a  hoe  in  another 
cabin,  the  better  to  conceal  my  design,  but  on  approaching 
the  place,  could  not  find  the  blessed  deposit ;  I  entered  the 
water  already  quite  cold,  I  go  and  come,  I  sound  with  my 
feet  to  see  whether  the  water  had  not  raised  and  carried  off 
the  body,  but  I  saw  nothing.  How  many  tears  I  shed, 
which  fell  in  the  torrent,  while  I  sang  as  I  could  the  psalms 
which  the  church  chant  for  the  de^.  After  all  I  found 
nothing,  and  a  woman  known  to  me  who  passed  by,  see- 
ing me  in  trouble,  told  me,when  I  asked  her  whether  she 
did  not  know  what  had  been  done  with  it,  that  it  had  been 
dragged  to  the  river  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  league  horn. 
there,  and  with  which  I  was  not  acquainted.  This  was 
false,  the  young  men  had  taken  it  up  and  dragged  it  to  a 
neighboring  wood,  where  during  the  fall  and  winter  it  was 
the  food  of  the  dog,  the  crow,  and  the  fox.  When  I  was 
told  in  the  spring  that  he  had  been  dragged  there,  I 
went  several  times  without  finding  any  thing ;  at  last,  the 
fourth  time,  I  found  his  head  and  some  half-gnawed  bones, 
which  I  interred,  intending  to  carry  them  off,  if  taken  back 
to  Three  Bivers  as  was  then  talked  of  Repeatedly  did  I 
kiss  them  as  the  bones  of  a  martyr  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  give  him  this  title,  not  only  because  he  was  killed  by 
the  enemies  of  Q-od,  and  his  church,  in  the  exercise  of  an 
ardent  love  for  his  neighbor,  putting  himself  in  evident 
perils  for  the  love  of  God,  but  particidarly  because  he  was 
killed  for  prayer,  and  expressly  for  the  Holy  Cross.  He 
was  in  a  cabin  where  he  prayed  daily,  which  scarcely  pleased 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


67 


it. 


a  superstitious  old  man  there.  One  day  seeing  a  little 
child,  three  or  four  years  old,  in  t^  3  cabin,  from  an  excess  of 
devotion  and  a  love  of  the  cross,  and  in  a  simplicity  which 
we  who  are  more  prudent  according  to  the  flesh  would  not 
have  had,  he  took  off  his  cap  and  putting  it  on  the  child's 
head  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  bo^y  The  old  man 
seeing  it  ordered  a  young  man  in  his  cabin,  who  was  start- 
ing on  a  war  party,  to  Mil  him,  and  he  obeyed  the  order  as 
we  have  seen. 

The  mother  of  the  child  herself,  in  a  voyage  which  I 
made  with  her,  told  me  that  he  had  beenkilled  for  that  sign 
of  the  cross,  and  the  old  man  who  had  given  the  order  to  Mil 
him,  invited  me  one  day  to  his  cabin  to  dinner,  but  when  I 
made  the  sigr  o^the  cross  before  beginning,  he  said :  "  There 
is  what  we  hate  ;  that  is  what  we  killed  thy  comrade  for, 
and  will  kill  thee  too.  Our  neighbors,  the  Europeans,  do 
not  make  it."  Sometimes  too  as  I  prayed  on  my  knees  in 
hunting  time,  they  told  me  that  they  hated  that  way  of  do- 
ing, and  had  killed  the  other  Frenchman  for  it  and  would 
kill  me  too,  when  I  -^^t  back  t^^  the  village. 

I  beg  pardon  of  your  Beverence  for  the  precipitation 
with  which  I  write  this,  and  my  want  of  respect  in  so  do- 
ing. Excuse  me,  if  you  please ;  I  feared  to  miss  this  oppor- 
tunity of  discharging  a  debt  I  should  long  since  have  dis- 
charged. 


VIII. 
LETTER  OF  OOVERNOR  EIEFT  TO  GOVERNOR  DE  HONTMAONT. 

.    "To  M.  De  Montmagny,  Governor  of  New  France. 

"  Monsieur,  Monsieur  : 

"  I  wrote  a  reply  to  that  which  you  were  pleased  to 
honor  me  with  by  Father  de  Jogues,  dated  May  15,  and  I 
sent  it  to  Fort  Orange  to  deliver  it  to  said  F.  de  Jogues ; 
but  he  not  having  returned  as  expected,  it  was  not  imme- 
diately sent.  This  will  serve,  then,  to  thank  your  Excel- 
lency for  your  remembrance  of  me,  which  I  shall  endeavor 
to  return,  if  it  please  God  to  give  me  an  opportunity.  I 
send  this  through  the  Northern  Section  by  the  English  or 
Monsieur  d'Aunay,  in  order  to  advise  you  of  the  massacre  of 
F.  Inaac  de  Jogues  and  his  companions,  perpetrated  by  the 
barbarous  and  inhuman  Maquaas,  or  Iroquois ;  as  also  of 


68 


THE  JOGUES  PAPERS. 


their  design  to  surprise  you,  under  color  of  a  visit,  as  you 
will  see  by  the  enclosed,  which,  though  badly  written  and 
spelt,  will,  to  our  great  regret,  give  you  all  the  particulars. 
I  am  sorry  that  the  subject  of  this  is  not  more  agreeable ; 
but  the  importance  of  the  affair  has  not  permitted  me  to  be 
silent.  Our  minister  above  carefully  inquired  of  the  chiefs 
of  this  canaille  their  reasons  for  the  wretched  act,  but  he 
could  get  no  answer  from  them  but  this,  that  the  said 
Pather  had  left,  among  some  articles  that  he  had  left 
in  their  keeping,  a  devil,  who  had  caused  all  their  com  or 
maize  to  be  eaten  up  by  worms.^  This  is  all  I  can  at  pres- 
ent write  to  you.  Praying  God  to  vouchsafe  to  guard  you 
and  yours  from  this  treacherous  nation,  and  assuring  you 
that  I  am 

"  Your  most  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

"  William  Kieft. 

<*  Fort  Amsterdam,  in  New  Netherlond,  Nov.  14,  1646." 


LETTER  OF  JAN  LABATIE  TO  MONSIEUR  LA  M0NTA6NE. 

(Enclosed  in  the  foregoing.) 

"  Praised  be  God  at  Fort  Orange ! 

"Monsieur,  Monsieur  La  Montagne  : 
"  I  have  not  wished  to  lose  this  occasion  of  letting  you 
know  my  state  of  health.  I  am  in  good  health,  thank  God, 
and  pray  God  that  it  may  be  so  with  you  and  your  children. 
"  I  have  not  much  more,  but  how  the  French  arrived 
the  seventeenth  of  this  month  at  the  Maquaas  Fort.  This 
is  to  let  you  know  how  those  ungrateful  barbarians  did  not 
wait  till  they  were  fairly  arrived  at  their  cabins,  where  they 
were  stripped  all  naked,  without  shirt,  only  they  gave  each 
a  pair  of  drawers  to  cover  decency. 

"  The  very  day  of  their  coming  they  began  to  threaten 

*  The  alltuion  here  is  to  Dominoe  John  Megapolenns,  to  whom  the  Indians 
bronght  some  of  the  books  and  clothes  of  the  murdered  missionary.  The  friend- 
ship existing  between  this  early  representative  of  the  Dntch  Church  in  New 
York  and  the  GaUiolic  missionaries,  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing  incidents  in  this 
period.  To  his  kind  solicitude  and  subsequent  hospitality,  two  acknowledged  that, 
next  to  God,  they'owed  their  lives.  A  correspondence  was  subsequently  car- 
ried on  between  them,  and  tbe  missionaries  lost  no  opportunity  of  expressing 
their  gratitude  to  so  eminent  a  benefactor,  and  the  name  of  this  dergjrman  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  is  deservedly  honored  by  the  Catholics  of  mw  York. 


THE  JOOUES  PAPERS. 


69 


:.; 


.^ 


them,  and  immediately  with  fists  and  clubs,  saying :  '  You 
shall  die  to-morrow !  Do  not  be  astonished,  we  shall  not 
burn  you ;  take  courage  ;  we  shall  strike  you  with  an  axe, 
and  put  your  heads  on  the  palisade,  that  your  brothers  may 
see  you  yet,  when  we  take  them/  Tou  must  know  that  it 
was  only  the  Bear  nation  that  killed  them.  Knowing  that 
the  Wolf  and  Tortoise  tribes  have  done  all  that  they  could 
to  save  their  lives,  and  said  against  the  Bear,  'Kill  us  first ;' 
but,  alas,  they  are  no  longer  alive.  Enow,  then,  that  the 
eighteenth,  in  the  evening,  they  came  to  call  Isaac  to  sup- 
per. He  got  up  and  went  away  with  the  savage  to  the  Bear's 
lodge ;  as  entering  the  lodge,  there  was  a  traitor  with  his 
hatchet  behind  the  door.  On  entering,  he  split  open  his 
head,  and  at  the  same  time  cut  off  his  head  and  put  it  on 
the  palisade.  The  next  morning  early  he  did  the  same  with 
the  other,  and  threw  their  bodies  into  the  river.  Monsieur, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  know  or  hear  from  any  savage  why 
they  killed  them. 

"  Besides  this  their  envy  and  enterprise,  they  are  going 
with  three  or  four  hundred  men  to  try  and  surprise  the 
French,  to  do  the  same  as  they  did  to  the  others ;  but  God 
grant  they  don't  accomplish  their  design. 

"  It  would  be  desirable  that  Monsieur  should  be  warned, 
but  there  is  no  way  to  do  it  from  here.  Monsieur,  I  have 
no  more  to  write,  but  I  remain 

"  Tour  very  humble  and  affectionate  servant  and  friend, 

"Jan  Labatie.* 

"  Monsieur,  I  beg  you  (give)  my  baisemains  (respects) 
to  the  Governor. 

"  Written  St  Fort  Orange,  Oct.  80, 1646." 

*  Labatie  was  the  French  inteipreter  at  Albany,  and  had,  with  Van  Curler, 
visited  Hbo  Mohawk  oastleB  for  the  resone  ol  the  mii^onary  in  1642. 


